HSBC says a bomb attack on its branches in Turkey, the second in six months, will not affect its plans in that country.
"The devices that were found over the last couple of days won't have any impact on our business decisions or investment in Turkey," a spokesman for the world's second-largest bank said today.
Police and local media said the four small bombs, which exploded in the Turkish cities of Ankara and Istanbul hours before Prime Minister Tony Blair was set to visit Turkey, caused minor damage and no casualties.
HSBC has been hit in Turkey before. Its main Istanbul office was one of four British and Jewish targets bombed in November in attacks that killed 61 people.
Despite marketing itself as "the world's local bank" with operations across the globe, including 12 Middle East countries, HSBC is still perceived as a British bank and a high-profile target for would-be bombers.
Earlier this month, an unexploded home-made bomb of gas cannisters was found in a bag placed outside a HSBC branch in Athens, three months before the Olympic Games.
The bank, which was founded in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865 to finance trade between China and Europe, is intent on building its presence in the Middle East, a region where Britain's reputation has been shaken by its involvement in the US-led war on Iraq.
No one has claimed responsibility for Monday's bombing.
In London, HSBC's shares were down nearly 2 per cent at 791-1/2 pence in morning trade.