 The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation established its Shanghai branch office on 3 April 1865, previous to other upstarts of HSBC, and indeed, as part of the historic English investment of Eastern Asian nations in the 19th century.Apart from the period 1941–1945, during which Japan forced HSBC and other foreign-invested banks to leave the local market, it has had a continuous presence in the city.HSBC was historically housed in one of the largest and most impressive buildings on The Bund, Shanghai's boulevard formerly known as the "Wall Street of the Orient".