Long-Term Debt-Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016
Federal Home Loan Bank of New York [Member] \| Long-term Debt [Member] \| Secured Debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Amount outstanding under the loan agreement	$ 5,600	$ 5,700
Current borrowing capacity		13,597
Borrowings [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Fixed rate long-term debt, Fair Value	2,007	2,012
Borrowings [Member] \| Structured Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, Fair value	7,164	$ 8,372
HSBC USA Inc [Member] \| Junior Subordinated Debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Junior subordinated debentures called during the period	560
Loss on extinguishment of debentures	$ 11
HSBC USA Capital Trust I [Member] \| HSBC USA Inc [Member] \| Junior Subordinated Debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Contractual call price (percent)	100.781%
HSBC USA Capital Trust II [Member] \| HSBC USA Inc [Member] \| Junior Subordinated Debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Contractual call price (percent)	100.84%
HSBC USA Capital Trust III [Member] \| HSBC USA Inc [Member] \| Junior Subordinated Debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Contractual call price (percent)	100.732%

Fixed-rate debt accounted for under fair value option.

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Percentage price of original principal amount of debt at which debt can be redeemed by the issuer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph e
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6479336&loc=d3e64711-112823

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- Definition

Face (par) amount of the original debt instrument that was repurchased.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Difference between the fair value of payments made and the carrying amount of debt which is extinguished prior to maturity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 470
-SubTopic 50
-Section 40
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
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- Definition

The carrying value as of the balance sheet date of the current and noncurrent portions of long-term obligations drawn from a line of credit, which is a bank's commitment to make loans up to a specific amount. Examples of items that might be included in the application of this element may consist of letters of credit, standby letters of credit, and revolving credit arrangements, under which borrowings can be made up to a maximum amount as of any point in time conditional on satisfaction of specified terms before, as of and after the date of drawdowns on the line. Includes short-term obligations that would normally be classified as current liabilities but for which (a) postbalance sheet date issuance of a long term obligation to refinance the short term obligation on a long term basis, or (b) the enterprise has entered into a financing agreement that clearly permits the enterprise to refinance the short-term obligation on a long term basis and the following conditions are met (1) the agreement does not expire within 1 year and is not cancelable by the lender except for violation of an objectively determinable provision, (2) no violation exists at the BS date, and (3) the lender has entered into the financing agreement is expected to be financially capable of honoring the agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
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-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(22))
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- Definition

Amount of current borrowing capacity under the credit facility considering any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed (for example, borrowings may be limited by the amount of current assets), but without considering any amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ References

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- Definition

The fair value amount of long-term debt whether such amount is presented as a separate caption or as a parenthetical disclosure. Additionally, this element may be used in connection with the fair value disclosures required in the footnote disclosures to the financial statements. The element may be used in both the balance sheet and disclosure in the same submission.

+ References

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