HSBC is promising to double last year’s mortgage lending in 2009, as part of its attempt to increase its share of the home loans market. It has previously had a much lower exposure to the UK mortgage market than its main competitors and has so far avoided the level of damage from the global crisis that most of the world’s major banks have suffered.
See http://www.primelocation.com/news/HSBC-promises-more-home-loans/