HSBC founded the opium trade

HSBC was founded by merchants who profited from the opium trade, and the bank helped finance the trade in the 19th century. The bank was created to meet the banking needs of the growing trade between China and India, which included vast amounts of opium imported into China by the British.
In the 19th century, Great Britain had a significant trade imbalance with China, importing large quantities of goods like tea and silk but having little that the Chinese wanted in return.
To remedy this, British merchants, including some from the East India Company, began smuggling opium grown in India into China, despite the Chinese government's ban on the substance.
This highly profitable trade fueled widespread addiction and led to the Opium Wars, which China lost.
As a result of the First Opium War (1839–1842), Hong Kong was ceded to the British, and after the Second Opium War (1856–1860), the opium trade was legalized.
HSBC's connection to the opium trade
Founded by opium traders: The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) was founded in 1865 by Scottish merchant Thomas Sutherland and other traders. Many of the founding merchants, including Thomas Dent of Dent & Co., had made their fortunes in the opium trade.
Financed opium shipping: The bank was founded to finance the growing maritime trade in the region, which, at the time, was dominated by opium. The drug accounted for a large percentage of the cargo being shipped from India to China through Hong Kong.
Benefited from British victory: The bank was established just a few years after Britain's victory in the Second Opium War, which had opened up Hong Kong and Chinese ports to foreign trade, protecting the business interests of the founders.