HSBC Mexico, S.A., the principal operating company of Group Financiero HSBC, S.A. de C.V., is one of Mexico’s four largest banking and financial service companies, with 1,400 branches and 5,200 ATMs. HSBC purchased Banco Internacional, S.A. known as Bital, in November 2002, several years after Bital participated in the controversial Fobaproa, which rescued the nation's banks from the 1994 crisis, at the cost of the Mexican taxpayers. HSBC's Mexico headquarters are at Torre HSBC on the Paseo de la Reforma near the Angel of Independence in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico... City. Around 2,800 staff work in the 40,000 m² tower. HSBC Holdings plc acquired GF Bital on November 22, 2002. First known as Banco del Atlantico during the 80's and later changed to Bital. On January 29, 2004 the entire branch network of Bital was rebranded as HSBC overnight. HSBC saturated newspapers, television and radio, purchased advertising space on every luggage trolley at Mexico City International Airport, on the sides of taxis, on buses, on the plastic bags in which newspapers are delivered, on flower stalls the side of tall buildings around Mexico City.
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