Organization and Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization and Presentation

Organization and Presentation

HSBC USA Inc. (“HSBC USA”), incorporated under the laws of Maryland, is a New York State based bank holding company and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC North America Holdings Inc. (“HSBC North America”), which is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc (“HSBC”). The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements of HSBC USA Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively “HUSI”) have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X, as well as in accordance with predominant practices within the banking industry. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all normal and recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods have been made. HSBC USA (together with its subsidiaries, “HUSI”) may also be referred to in these notes to the consolidated financial statements as “we,” “us” or “our.” These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 (the “2012 Form 10-K”). Certain reclassifications have been made to prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation. In addition, a reduction in trading assets and trading liabilities of $5.1 billion at December 31, 2012 was made to properly reflect the elimination of certain affiliate inter-company balances relating to trading derivatives. We have determined that this correction had no impact to any other consolidated financial information presented for 2012.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the use of estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Unless otherwise noted, information included in these notes to the consolidated financial statements relates to continuing operations for all periods presented. See Note 2, “Discontinued Operations” for further details. Interim results should not be considered indicative of results in future periods.

In May 2013, we consolidated our commercial paper conduit variable interest entity, otherwise known as Bryant Park Funding LLC ("Bryant Park") upon the completion of a restructuring of that entity. See Note 17, "Variable Interest Entities" for further details.