However, to reach its swank Manhattan headquarters, you take a private elevator to the top floor of the HSBC building.

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The next turn of the wheel can be seen in Mr. Wilson's Custom House, also on the Bund, begun after the HSBC building and completed in 1927.

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In late August, I stood in the center of Mexico City, surrounded by glimmering office towers, looking up at the dark outline of the HSBC Mexico building.

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