Multi-National, Multi-Archival: The Business Records of the HSBC Group

This essay explores the issues affecting the archives of modern multi-national enterprises. Examples are taken from the recent experience of the HSBC Group, whose member companies include Hongkong Bank, Midland Bank, the British Bank of the Middle East, and other long-established providers of financial services. The paper reviews the following issues:

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of centralization of the archives of a multi-national enterprise?

• How important is the location of the archives?

• What are the practical and technical implications of relocating the archives of constituent companies of a multi-national enterprise?

• What factors should motivate the collecting policy of a multi-national enterprise?

• What factors influence the relationship between a multi-national archive and other custodians of its records?

The essay concludes by considering how a multi-national business archives might reach and respond to a multi-national readership.