Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

Defined Benefit Pension Plans  Effective January 1, 2005, our previously separate qualified defined benefit pension plan was combined with that of HSBC Finance into a single HSBC North America qualified defined benefit pension plan (either the “HSBC North America Pension Plan” or the “Plan”) which facilitates the development of a unified employee benefit policy and unified employee benefit plan administration for HSBC companies operating in the U.S. The table below reflects the portion of pension expense and its related components of the HSBC North America Pension Plan which has been allocated to us and is recorded in our consolidated statement of income.

Three Months Ended March 31,	2013			2012
	(in millions)
Service cost – benefits earned during the period	$	1		$	3
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation	17			17
Expected return on assets	(20		)	(21		)
Amortization of prior service cost (benefit)	—			(1		)
Recognized losses	13			11
Pension expense	$	11		$	9

Postretirement Plans Other Than Pensions  Our employees also participate in plans which provide medical, dental and life insurance benefits to retirees and eligible dependents. These plans cover substantially all employees who meet certain age and vested service requirements. We have instituted dollar limits on payments under the plans to control the cost of future medical benefits.

The net postretirement benefit cost included the following components:

Three Months Ended March 31,	2013		2012
	(in millions)
Interest cost	$	1	$	1
Amortization of transition obligation	—		1
Net periodic postretirement benefit cost	$	1	$	2