HSBC Group has retained its grip on the title of Best Factor – one of the prestigious Trade Finance Awards for Excellence 2007. This year’s award is an unprecedented fifth in succession for HSBC, pushing Deutsche Bank into second place.

“HSBC is a leading provider of export services and the second largest provider of import services globally. This award is another testimonial of HSBC’s professionalism in the factoring business around the world,” said Shaun Wallis, HSBC Malta’s CEO. “In Malta, we have followed suit with the recent launch of a factoring (invoice finance) service added to our existing imports/ exports finance business.”

The worldwide demand for factoring services has increased by more than 24 per cent in the past year. HSBC is responding to this by opening new offices in Malta, Greece, Turkey and Mexico, and others are due to open in Poland and the Czech Republic in the near future.