HSBC is expected to unveil almost $16 billion in losses for the year 2007 but is still expected to generate a profit.
HSBC is Britain’s largest bank and is the last of the five main British banks, which include Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS, to reveal their annual estimates.

Although HSBC is making this 16 billion dollar bad debt write off, they still expect their profits t increase to $25 billion up from the $22 billion reported last year.

Most of the write off comes from the battering that most banks have faced in the credit situation associated with U.S. mortgage situations. The plunging U.S. housing market has however affected the U.S. owned banks a lot worse than the British banks.

The HSBC bad debt write off this year is a massive increase from the $10.6 billion write off they made for the year 2006. With no respite in sight from the ailing U.S. housing economy, investment groups have urged HSBC to sever ties with its U.S. arm and focus on the booming Asian markets.