THE FIRST branch of the Hongkong-Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) outside Manila was opened in Iloilo City on 2 April 1883 to serve the growing sugar industry. HSBC is the oldest foreign bank in the Philippines, opening its doors in Binondo in November 1875.

HSBC, located on Ledesma Street, gave financial assistance to Iloilo traders by extending import and export credit facilities. It also offered financial assistance for agricultural activities.

The HSBC in Binondo moved to Makati City in 1971, and ten years later, its Iloilo branch closed while a new branch in Ortigas Center, Pasig City opened.

Other banks that established branches in Iloilo City during the Spanish regime included the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China (now the Standard-Chartered Bank), which opened on 4 April 1885 (but closed temporarily in 1885) and the El Banco Espanol de Isabella II (now Bank of the Philippine Islands), which opened in 1897.

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