In 1992 he was appointed a director of the recently founded HSBC Holdings in London.

Only HSBC Holdings, which has assets of $393.6 billion, would have a more dominant regional position.

HSBC Holdings, the British banking giant, has been even more aggressive in its quest to win over low-income consumers.

He became an executive director of HSBC Holdings in May 2008.

He was also Deputy Chairman of HSBC Holdings in 1991-1992.

In 2009 he became the non-executive director of HSBC Holdings.

Another rival is HSBC Holdings, which has the third-largest share of the New York market, at 7 percent.

HSBC Holdings said provisions for bad loans decreased in 2002, helping to increase pretax profit for the year by 19 percent.

Household is now a unit of HSBC Holdings.

Citigroup and HSBC Holdings are also considered possible bidders, analysts said.