Star ratings are a type of rating scale using a star glyph or similar typographical symbol . It is used by reviewers for ranking things such as films, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. For example, a system of one to five stars is commonly used in hotel ratings , with five stars being the highest rating.
112-814: The Fullerton Hotel Singapore is a five-star luxury hotel located near the mouth of the Singapore River , in the Downtown Core of the Central Area , Singapore. It was originally known as the Fullerton Building , and also as the General Post Office Building . The address is 1 Fullerton Square. The Fullerton Building was named after Robert Fullerton , the first Governor of the Straits Settlements (1826–1829). Commissioned in 1924 as part of
224-402: A national monument of Singapore . The northern end of the building covers the site of Fort Fullerton, a fort built in 1829 to defend the settlement against any naval attacks. The fort consisted of an Artillery Barrack, a house for the officers, barracks for soldiers and a 68-pounder gun guarding the entrance to the river which used to stand on the location known as Fullerton square. In 1843,
336-474: A "worthless" movie. Roger Ebert occasionally gave zero stars to films he deemed "artistically inept and morally repugnant." Scheuer's guide calls "one and a half star" films "poor", and "one star" films "bad". Not all film critics have approved of star ratings. Film scholar Robin Wood wondered if Sight and Sound readers accepted "such blackening of their characters." Jay Scott of Canada's The Globe and Mail
448-627: A bank operating on "sound Scottish banking principles". Still, the original location of the bank was considered crucial and the founders chose Wardley House in Hong Kong since the construction was based on some of the best feng shui in colonial Hong Kong . After raising a capital stock of HK$ 5 million, the bank commenced operations on 3 March 1865. It opened a branch in Shanghai in April of that year and started issuing locally denominated banknotes in both
560-453: A film critic used a star-rating system to grade movies. "The one-star review of The Port of Missing Girls launched the star system, which the newspaper promised would be 'a permanent thing.' According to film scholar Gerald Peary , few newspapers adopted this practice until the French film magazine Cahiers du cinéma "started polling critics in the 1950s and boiling their judgment down to
672-525: A game or stage's difficulty (such as in the SNES version of Street Fighter II and its updates), or to rate the attributes of a selectable character or, in sports games , a team. Restaurant guides and reviewers often use stars in restaurant ratings . The Michelin system reserves star for exceptional restaurants, and gives up to three; the vast majority of recommended restaurants have no star at all. Other guides now use up to four or five stars, with one-star being
784-582: A new business unit as Wealth and Personal Banking. In October 2020, HSBC committed to achieve zero-emission by 2050, e.g., by this year it would not only become carbon neutral by itself but also will work only with carbon-neutral clients. It also committed to providing 750–1,000 billion dollars to help clients make the transition. It also pledged to achieve carbon neutrality in his own operations by 2030. In January 2021, HSBC announced that it would be closing 82 branches in Britain. In May 2021, HSBC announced
896-829: A new coal policy and provide further detail on its climate strategy by the end of 2021. The organisation's "Thermal Coal Phase-Out Policy" was published in December 2021. In August 2021, HSBC announced the acquisition of AXA Singapore. HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific) Holdings Ltd, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC would acquire 100% of the issued share capital of AXA Singapore for $ 575m. In December 2021, HSBC Asset Management (India) Private Ltd, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC announced it would acquire L&T Investment Management for $ 425 million from L&T Finance Holdings . In June 2022, HSBC announced its intention to sell its business in Russia. This requires approval from
1008-463: A new subsidiary, Wealth and Tax Advisory Services USA Inc. ( WTAS ), would purchase a portion of Andersen's tax practice. The new HSBC Private Client Services Group would serve the wealth and tax advisory needs of high-net-worth individuals. Then in August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, Mexico's third largest retail bank for $ 1.1 billion. In November 2002, HSBC expanded further in
1120-617: A number of controversies and the bank has been repeatedly fined for money laundering (sometimes in relation to major criminal organizations such as the Sinaloa cartel ) or setting up large scale tax avoidance schemes. After the British established Hong Kong as a crown colony in the aftermath of the First Opium War , merchants from other parts of the British Empire, now in Hong Kong, felt
1232-481: A pier. From there, a lift would bring bags of mail to the Master Attendant's Pier, for transferring onto ships. Special mail was sent to neighbouring countries via sea, thus requiring at least 2 months to reach United Kingdom. Before postal workers were allowed to work, they had to pledge to uphold their integrity. As public servants, they were not allowed to leak any information on what went through them (including
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#17328851311151344-463: A preferred location for money laundering. The United States Department of Justice , however, decided not to pursue criminal penalties, a decision which the New York Times labelled a "dark day for the rule of law." HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said: "We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again." In July 2013, Alan Keir
1456-412: A purely mathematical basis, 2 1/2 stars would be the dividing line between good and bad on a 0–5 scale. Common Sense Media uses a scale of one to five, where 3 stars are "Just fine; solid" and anything lower is "Disappointing" at best. There is no agreement on what the lowest rating should be. Some critics make "one star" or a "half-star" their lowest rating. Dave Kehr believes that "one star" indicates
1568-552: A rating. Star ratings are also given out at stand-up comedy performances and theatre productions. Star ratings are given at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe , the largest arts festival in the world. Since 2010, the British Comedy Guide has collected over 4,300 reviews of around 1,110 different acts, across 83 different publications in the form of a star rating. The use of star ratings is controversial because
1680-509: A record $ 1.92 billion fine in this money laundering case. It was reported that bank officials consistently overlooked internal warnings about the inadequacy of HSBC's monitoring systems, according to the Justice Department. For example, in 2008, the CEO of HSBC Mexico was reportedly informed by Mexican law enforcement about a recording of a Mexican drug lord, who indicated that HSBC Mexico was
1792-412: A representative office. HSBC announced renaming of its Personal Financial Services (PFS) business group to Retail Banking and Wealth Management (also known as RBWM) on HSBC's 2011 Investor Day. On 11 May 2013, the new chief executive Stuart Gulliver announced that HSBC would refocus its business strategy and that a large-scale retrenchment of operations, particularly in respect of the retail sector,
1904-458: A scale of zero to three stars, representing O'Brien's notion of their "literary permanence." He further listed stories with a ranking of three stars "in a special 'Roll of Honor.'" In this list, O'Brien attached an additional asterisk to those stories that he personally enjoyed. Oliver Herford 's essay Say it with Asterisks , quips "Never, I think, were a mob of overworked employees so pitifully huddled together in an ill-ventilated factory as are
2016-413: A star as a restaurant rating in 1926, which was expanded to a system of one to three stars in 1931. In 1915, Edward O'Brien began editing The Best American Short Stories . This annual compiled O'Brien's personal selection of the previous year's best short stories. O'Brien claimed to read as many as 8,000 stories a year, and his editions contained lengthy tabulations of stories and magazines, ranked on
2128-488: A star rating to rank the safety of transportation. EuroRAP have developed a Road Protection Score which is a scale for Star Rating roads for how well they protect the user from death or disabling injury when a crash occurs. The assessment evaluates the safety that is 'built into' the road through its design, in combination with the way traffic is managed on it. The RPS protocol has also been adapted and used by AusRAP, usRAP and iRAP. Euro NCAP awards 'star ratings' based on
2240-466: A star rating, with a bullet reserved for movies that the magazine didn't like." The highest rating any film earned was five stars. The British film magazine Sight and Sound also rated films on a scale of one to four stars. Some critics use a "half-star" option in between basic star ratings. Leonard Maltin goes one further and gives Naked Gun 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 : The Final Insult a 2 + 1 ⁄ 3 star rating. Critics do not agree on what
2352-769: A substantial market presence in the United Kingdom. As part of the takeover conditions for the acquisition of the bank thereof, HSBC Holdings plc was required to relocate its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993. Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of the Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $ 1 billion in March 1997 and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $ 600 million in May 1997. In May 1999, HSBC expanded its presence in
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#17328851311152464-401: A total 470 branches before divestments. On 9 August 2011, Capital One Financial Corp. agreed to acquire HSBC's U.S. credit card business for $ 2.6 billion, netting HSBC Holdings an estimated after-tax profit of $ 2.4 billion. In September it was announced that HSBC sought to sell its general insurance business for around $ 1 billion. In 2012, HSBC was the subject of hearings of
2576-570: A £12.5 billion (US$ 17.7 billion; HK$ 138 billion) rights issue to enable it to buy other banks that were struggling to survive. However, uncertainty over the rights issue's implications for institutional investors caused volatility in the Hong Kong stock market: on 9 March 2009 HSBC's share price fell 24.14%, with 12 million shares sold in the last few seconds of trading. On 25 April 2011, HSBC decided to shut down its retail banking business in Russia and reduce its private banking presence to
2688-569: Is a 90% HSBC-owned joint venture. In November 2022, HSBC announced its intention to exit the Canadian market. Royal Bank of Canada would acquire 100% of the common shares of HSBC Canada for an all-cash purchase price of $ 13.5 billion, 9.4 times HSBC Canada's estimated 2024 earnings. Completion of the transaction is expected by late 2023, subject to regulatory approvals. HSBC has been under pressure to cut costs and divest non-Asian businesses. In February 2023, HSBC announced that its profits for
2800-534: Is the largest Europe-based bank by total assets , ahead of BNP Paribas , with US$ 2.919 trillion as of December 2023. In 2021, HSBC had $ 10.8 trillion in assets under custody (AUC) and $ 4.9 trillion in assets under administration (AUA). HSBC traces its origin to a hong trading house in British Hong Kong . The bank was established in 1865 in Hong Kong and opened branches in Shanghai in
2912-694: The Bank of Communications of Shanghai. In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired Marks & Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings Ltd for £763 million in December 2004. Acquisitions in 2005 included Metris Inc, a US credit card issuer for $ 1.6 billion in August and 70.1% of Dar es Salaam Investment Bank of Iraq in October. In April 2006, HSBC bought the 90 branches in Argentina of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro for $ 155 million. In December 2007 HSBC acquired
3024-576: The British colony 's centennial celebrations, the building was designed as an office building by Major P.H. Keys of Keys & Dowdeswell, a Shanghai firm of architects, which won the project through an architectural design competition . The architectural firm also designed the Capitol Theatre , its adjoined Capitol Building and the Singapore General Hospital . In 2015, it was designated as
3136-726: The Condé Nast Traveler Gold List award. On 18 July 2001, the hotel received an architectural heritage award from the Urban Redevelopment Authority for its successful restoration of the former Fullerton Building. Star (classification) Similar systems have been proposed for electing politicians in the form of score voting and STAR voting . Repeated symbols used for a ranking date to Mariana Starke 's 1820 guidebook, which used exclamation points to indicate works of art of special value: ...I have endeavored... to furnish Travellers with correct lists of
3248-679: The Japanese Occupation of Singapore , Governor Sir Shenton Thomas and Lady Thomas sought refuge in the sleeping quarters of the Singapore Club. The Fullerton Building was also where General Percival discussed with Sir Shenton the possibility of surrendering Singapore to the Japanese . Subsequently, Fullerton Building became the headquarters of the Japanese military administration in Singapore. In
3360-420: The U.S. Senate permanent subcommittee for investigations for severe deficiencies in its anti-money laundering practices (see Controversies ). On 16 July the committee presented its findings. Among other things, it concluded that HSBC had been transferring $ 7 billion in banknotes from its Mexican to its US subsidiary (much of it related to drug dealing ), was disregarding terrorist financing links and
3472-689: The atrium courtyard , or face downtown Singapore 's skyline, the Singapore River promenade or the Marina Bay. The hotel has a 25-metre outdoor infinity swimming pool, fitness centre and a luxury spa . It also has five food and beverage outlets. For business travellers, the hotel has a 24-hour financial centre with the Bloomberg Professional service that provides financial reports and world news, and 15 meeting rooms equipped with conference facilities. The Fullerton Hotel Singapore won
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3584-651: The "death doughnut". Roger Ebert used a thumbs-down symbol. Other critics use a black dot . Critics also do not agree on what the lower ratings signify, let alone the lowest rating. While Maltin's and Scheuer's guides respectively explain that lowest rated films are "BOMB(s)" and "abysmal", British film critic Leslie Halliwell instead writes that no star "indicates a totally routine production or worse; such films may be watchable but are at least equally missable." Like Halliwell and Dave Kehr, film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum believes one-star films have some merit, however unlike Halliwell, Rosenbaum believes that no stars indicate
3696-576: The 17 banks in the UK that were "facing questions over what they knew about the international scheme and why they did not turn away suspicious money transfers," as HSBC "processed $ 545.3m in Laundromat cash, mostly routed through its Hong Kong branch." Other banks facing scrutiny under the investigation included the Royal Bank of Scotland , NatWest , Lloyds , Barclays and Coutts . In response, HSBC stated that it
3808-539: The 1950s, the Fullerton Building became recognised as an unofficial public monument. With its recognizable lighthouse, it stood out of the skyline as the most prominent feature of the waterfront. In time, the Fullerton became a symbol of Singapore, appearing in many postcards, recognised by travellers and ship captains from all over the world. In 1965, Fullerton Square hosted a rally for Singapore's independence. Before
3920-458: The Asterisks in this Sweatshop of Twaddle." Literary editor Katrina Kenison dismisses O'Brien's grading systems as "excessive at best, fussy and arbitrary at worst." Book reviewers generally do not use a star-rating system though there are exceptions. The West Coast Review of Books rates books on a scale of one ("poor") to five ("superior") stars. According to editor D. David Dreis, readers love
4032-635: The Chinese Bank in Taiwan. In May 2008, HSBC acquired IL&FS Investment, an Indian retail broking firm. On August 3, 2008, HSBC began its banking operations in Algeria with the opening of a branch in Algiers. In 2005, Bloomberg Markets magazine accused HSBC of money laundering for drug dealers and state sponsors of terrorism. Then-CEO Stephen Green said that "This was a singular and wholly irresponsible attack on
4144-576: The Colonial Elite, an exclusive club that took up almost 7,000 square metres (75,000 sq ft) of the upper floors. A lighthouse was built on the Fullerton Building. Called the Fullerton Light, the lighthouse was used to guide ships ashore and anchor along the piers. It was built to replace the Fort Canning Light, which was decommissioned in 1979 since it was gradually blocked because of
4256-683: The Crown Colony and Shanghai soon afterwards. The bank was incorporated in Hong Kong as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation by the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Ordinance (Numbers 2 and 5 of 1866), and a branch in Japan was also established in Yokohama in 1866. Shares of the bank were one of 13 securities initially traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange , and were traded on that exchange until
4368-622: The Fullerton Building after that, it was only gazetted as a conservation building by the Singapore Government in 1997. In 1997, Sino Land (Hong Kong) Company Ltd, a sister company of Far East Organization , acquired the Fullerton Building from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). It spent close to another S$ 300 million converting Fullerton Building into a hotel and building the two-storey commercial complex One Fullerton opposite Fullerton Road. Renovation works on
4480-528: The Fullerton Building were completed on 8 December 2000. The Fullerton Hotel Singapore was officially opened by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on 1 January 2001. The site, sandwiched between the Civic District and the central business district, was sold together with an underpass and the seafront site on which One Fullerton now stands for S$ 110 million. The two are linked by an air-conditioned underground pedestrian walkway with travellators. To ensure that
4592-468: The Fullerton Building. Subsequently, the Singapore Club relocated to Clifford House at Collyer Quay and then to Straits Trading Building on Battery Road near Boat Quay , vacating the Fullerton Building for use by the EDB and more government offices. In the last days before Britain's surrender to Japan in 1942, the building was used as a hospital, with makeshift operation rooms for wounded British soldiers. During
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4704-588: The General Post Office gallery area on the ground floor, with bays that corresponded with the building's towering Doric columns on the façade, and the Straits Club Billiard Room. The post office gallery no longer exists, but has been subdivided to provide a bar, a restaurant and the hotel foyer. The Straits Club Billiard Room was kept, but without its wood panelling . The building's neo-classical columns and high-ceiling verandas were retained. It
4816-687: The General Post Office, The Exchange, Singapore Club (now Singapore Town Club), the Marine Department, and the Import and Export Department (later the Ministry of Trade and Industry ). It also housed the Chamber of Commerce, and various government departments dealing with agriculture, fisheries and forestry . One of the rooms in the Fullerton Building was where the late Finance Minister, Dr. Goh Keng Swee , wrote many of his budget speeches for Singapore. The building
4928-496: The Japanese closed the exchange in 1941 . Sir Thomas Jackson became chief manager in 1876. During his twenty-six-year tenure, the bank became a leader in Asia. A period of expansion followed, with new buildings constructed in Bangkok (1921), Manila (1922) and Shanghai (1923), and a new head office building in Hong Kong in 1935. Bank note issuance displaced other forms of the era and of
5040-624: The Russian government, and the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024. The projected loss is $ 300 million. A possible buyer is the Russian Expobank . In February 2024, the President of Russia allowed HSBC and Expobank to carry out this transaction. In July 2022, HSBC became the first foreign lender to open a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee in its Chinese investment banking subsidiary. The subsidiary, HSBC Qianhai Securities,
5152-679: The Santa Claus Main Office even today. During Christmas seasons in the past, the post office would be filled with letters from children directed to Santa Claus. These letters were then sent to the Salvation Army, who would reply the children on behalf of Santa Claus. Presently, these letters are forwarded to the Santa Claus Main Office which is situated in the Santa Claus Village in Finland. The exclusive Singapore Club rents premises on
5264-458: The United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $ 10.3 billion. Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France , a large French bank, for £6.6 billion. In July 2001 HSBC bought Demirbank , an insolvent Turkish bank. In July 2002, Arthur Andersen announced that HSBC USA, Inc., through
5376-403: The United States. Under the chairmanship of John Bond, it spent £9 billion (US$ 15.5 billion) to acquire Household Finance Corporation (HFC) , a US credit card issuer and subprime lender. In a 2003 cover story, The Banker noted "when banking historians look back, they may conclude that [it] was the deal of the first decade of the 21st century". Under the new name of HSBC Finance ,
5488-406: The bank reportedly telling Mossack Fonseca it was "comfortable" with Rami Makhlouf as a customer, even though US Treasury sanctions against him were in effect at the time. On 20 March 2017, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that hundreds of banks had helped launder KGB -related funds out of Russia , as uncovered by an investigation named Global Laundromat . HSBC was listed among
5600-670: The bank's international compliance procedures", but subsequent investigation indicated that it was accurate and proved that the bank was involved in money laundering for the Sinaloa Cartel and throughout Mexico . In July 2006, HSBC announced that it would acquire Westpac 's sub-custody operations in Australia and New Zealand for $ 112.5 million, making HSBC the leading sub-custody and clearing player in Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, HSBC wrote down its holdings of subprime-related mortgage securities by $ 10.5 billion, becoming
5712-465: The basement floors. A hollow cellular raft foundation was proposed by the original contractors in the 1920s to save cost because bedrock lies directly below the building. The Fullerton Building also possesses the one and only barrel-vaulted, coffered ceiling in Singapore. The Fullerton Building restoration project from 1998 to 2000 was a difficult conservation project that involved an institutional building. Architects 61, together with DP Consultants,
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#17328851311155824-560: The branch network of its HSBC Finance arm in the United States, leading to nearly 6,000 job losses and leaving only the credit card business to continue operating. Chairman Stephen Green stated, "HSBC has a reputation for telling it as it is. With the benefit of hindsight, this is an acquisition we wish we had not undertaken." According to analyst Colin Morton, "the takeover was an absolute disaster". In March 2009, it announced that it had made US$ 9.3 billion of profit in 2008 and announced
5936-438: The building of Fort Fullerton. Merchants thought that it was a waste to use the prime location of the city for military instead of trading purpose, which would have prevented Singapore from generating more revenue and boosting its trading business. They were also worried that they would be in the direct line of fire if there were any attacks on the fort because the offices along the Singapore River were situated in close proximity to
6048-446: The business conduct of HSBC under the title Swiss Leaks based on the 2007 hacked HSBC account records from whistle-blower Hervé Falciani . The ICIJ alleges that the bank profited from doing business with corrupt politicians, dictators, tax evaders, dealers of blood diamonds, arms dealers and other clients. US Senate investigators in 2012 had sought the hacked HSBC account records from Falciani and French authorities, but never received
6160-406: The centre of the building. There is an indoor garden over the old Straits Club at the centre of the atrium which can double as a venue for cocktails . The main entrance into the hotel, where dignitaries and celebrities are received, is covered with a large glass canopy at the porch. Construction work in the interior was carried out to reinforce the beams and columns, while retrofitting done on
6272-493: The construction of more high-rise buildings in Singapore. The location of the previous lighthouse is now occupied by The Lighthouse Restaurant. The location of the Fullerton Hotel was once referred to as " Mile Zero " before the introduction of the modern road system. All locations in Singapore were measured and stemmed from "Mile Zero". The building was originally commissioned as the General Post Office (GPO). The GPO covered
6384-444: The cutoff is for a recommendation, even when they use the same scale. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert "both consider[ed] a three-star rating to be the cutoff for a "thumbs up" on their scales of zero to four stars. Film critic Dave Kehr —who also uses a 0–4 star scale—believes "two stars is a borderline recommendation". On a five-star scale, regardless of the bottom rating, 3 stars is often the lowest positive rating, though judging on
6496-575: The data. HSBC announced in August 2015 that it would be selling its Brazilian unit to Banco Bradesco for $ 5.2 billion following years of disappointing performance. In 2015, HSBC was recognised as the most trusted foreign bank in India by The Brand Trust Report 2015. In 2016, the bank was mentioned numerous times in connection with the Panama Papers investigation. Many Syrians were angered when their accounts were judged high-risk and closed, despite
6608-702: The division was the second largest subprime lender in the United States. The new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square , London officially opened in April 2003. In July 2003, HSBC announced that it had agreed to acquire 82.19% of the Korean fund administrator, Asset Management Technology (AM TeK), for $ 12.47 million in cash; it was the largest fund administrator in South Korea, with $ 24 billion of assets under administration. In September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $ 7.8 million. In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of
6720-546: The entire building now rest on the platform. The engineering team installed a new set of five drainage pumps to counteract the slow seepage of river water. As the building sits on solid rock foundation, no additional piling was required. The building was officially gazetted on 7 December 2015, as Singapore's 71st national monument . The building will be preserved under the Preservation of Monuments Act. The Fullerton Hotel Singapore has 400 rooms and suites which either overlook
6832-413: The exit of US retail banking business by selling 10 California branches to Cathay Bank and 80 branches to Citizens Financial Group and closing the remaining branches. The bank said it intends to focus on the banking and wealth management needs of globally connected affluent and high net worth clients. In May 2021, HSBC committed to end the financing of the coal industry , with a commitment to publish
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#17328851311156944-432: The exterior to restore the façade. Although studies carried out before the renovation work began showed most of the raft foundation was still in good condition, water from the adjacent Singapore River had seeped slowly into some of the foundation's cells over the years, flooding parts of the old basement. As a result, a new precast concrete platform was built over the cells, and waterproofing added. Pillars supporting
7056-450: The facilities provided. Some consider this disadvantageous to smaller hotels whose quality of accommodation could fall into one class but the lack of an item such as an elevator would prevent it from reaching a higher categorization. In recent years hotel rating systems have also been criticized by some who argue that the rating criteria for such systems are overly complex and difficult for laymen to understand. It has been suggested that
7168-421: The film has redeeming facets, and instead uses zero stars as his lowest rating. Examples of rating scales: Critics have different ways of denoting the lowest rating when this is a "zero". Some such as Peter Travers display empty stars. Jonathan Rosenbaum and Dave Kehr use a round black dot. Leslie Halliwell uses a blank space. The Globe and Mail uses a "0", or as their former film critic dubbed it,
7280-456: The first major bank to report its losses due to the unfolding subprime mortgage crisis . According to Bloomberg , "HSBC is one of world's strongest banks by some measures". When HM Treasury required all UK banks to increase their capital in October 2007, the group transferred £750 million to London within hours, and announced that it had just lent £4 billion to other UK banks. In March 2009, HSBC announced that it would shut down
7392-529: The fort was extended after a sandstone monolith , the Singapore Stone , with an inscription possibly dating back to the 13th century was demolished. The Singapore stone was, unfortunately, destroyed by the British. A fragment of this monolith was salvaged and preserved in the collection of the National Museum at Stamford Road . However, there were several criticisms as well as apprehensions regarding
7504-418: The fort. The fort was also said to be incapable of deterring any potential attacks from the sea, and had very low efficacy. Following these criticisms, the fort was finally demolished in 1873. The fort gave way to the first General Post Office and the Exchange Building in 1874. Plans to erect Fullerton Building were drawn up in 1920. However, due to a lack of funds, construction only began in February 1924. During
7616-421: The fourth storey, where the British Governor was first told of the British military's decision to surrender to the Japanese during World War II , was converted to an exclusive lounge. The room has a barrel-vaulted, coffered ceiling, which is the only one of its kind in Singapore, and is the only surviving interior from the original building. The building's historical lighthouse , which used to guide ships into
7728-517: The gallery above the sorting halls to observe all postal workers and ensure none of the letters or mail were opened while being sorted. Fridays were designated as arrival dates for overseas mail from Britain. Postal workers had to work overtime with no extra pay, just to wait for the mail to arrive and then sort it. They were not entitled to any days off and had to work around the clock. They were also forbidden from personally separating local and overseas letters. The General Post Office continues to hold
7840-410: The ground. The building has Neo-classical architectural features which include a two-storey fluted Doric colonnades on their heavy base, and the lofty portico over the main entrance with trophy designs and the Royal Coat of Arms , crafted by Italian Cavaliere Rudolfo Nolli . Originally, there were five distinct frontages, each treated in the Doric order. 14 elevators served the four floors plus
7952-399: The half star is positioned to the left of one or more whole stars. HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( Chinese : 滙豐 ; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation ) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London , England, with historical and business links to East Asia and a multinational footprint. It
8064-439: The historical Fullerton Building continues to be visible from Marina Bay , URA specified a low building height for One Fullerton across the road. This also ensured that guests at the Fullerton Hotel would have unobstructed views of the sea. Keys and Dowdeswell was an established British international architecture company, their design works can be seen in buildings throughout China and South East Asia from 1920s to 1940s, some of
8176-551: The initial groundwork, excavations revealed the gun casements of the old Fort Fullerton. In fact, the Fullerton Building was built over reclaimed land. Built at a cost of $ 4.1 million and after delays of a few months, the building was completed in June 1928. The Fullerton Building was opened on 27 June 1928 by the Governor, Sir Hugh Clifford , who suggested the building be named after Robert Fullerton. The building had five founding tenants :
8288-451: The lack of a unified global system for rating hotels may also undermine the usability of such schemes. In the UK, providers and comparison websites often use stars to indicate how feature-rich financial products are. The most senior military ranks in all services are classified by a star system in many countries, ranging from one-star rank which typically corresponds to brigadier , brigadier general , Commodore or air commodore , to
8400-536: The last quarter of 2022 had almost doubled compared to those at the same time the previous year. However, its pre-tax profit actually fell because it absorbed the cost of selling its French retail banking operations. The bank also announced that they were closing 114 branches in the United Kingdom. The move came as more people were using online banking since the pandemic, reducing the need for physical branches. The move has been criticized by Unite . As interest rates increased globally in May 2023, HSBC Holdings reported
8512-513: The local and international needs of domestic and overseas clients", HSBC agreed to sell 195 branches in New York and Connecticut to First Niagara Financial Group Inc , and divestures to KeyCorp , Community Bank, N.A. and Five Star Bank for around $ 1 billion, and announced the closure of 13 branches in Connecticut and New Jersey . The rest of HSBC's U.S. network will only be about half from
8624-443: The lowest rating. The stars are sometimes replaced by symbols such as a fork or spoon. Some guides use separate scales for food, service, ambiance, and even noise level. The Michelin system remains the best known star system. A single star denotes "a very good restaurant in its category", two stars "excellent cooking, worth a detour", and three stars, "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey". Michelin stars are awarded only for
8736-567: The majestic background of the Fullerton Building, crowds declared their support for merdeka independence. From the 1970s to 1995, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore used the building as its headquarters. Internal alterations were carried out on the building by the Public Works Department in 1985. The General Post Office, under Singapore Post , vacated the building in March 1996. Though plans were initiated to conserve
8848-792: The most prominent buildings in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore were designed by them. Their design works are usually with major significance to a historical period, geographical place and local culture tradition, with many of their buildings in the classical style. Major Keys & Dowdeswell were established and distinguished designers of grand interior spaces and classical façades. They followed the principals of 20th-century Beaux-Arts tradition of classicism. Relating to some of their core principals in design, they are largely Monumental and Ornamental. The grey Aberdeen granite Fullerton Building sits on 41,100 square metres (442,400 square feet) of land. The height of its walls measures 36.6 metres (120 ft) from
8960-569: The most senior five-star ranks , which include Admiral of the Fleet , Grand Admiral , Field Marshal , General of the Army and Marshal of the Air Force —some five-star ranks only exist during large-scale conflicts. Recruits entering American college football are commonly ranked on a five-star scale, with five representing what scouts think will be the best college players. International organisations use
9072-567: The need for a bank to finance the growing trade, through Hong Kong and sometimes also through Shanghai, between China and India , the rest of the British Empire and Europe, of goods, produces and merchandises of all kinds, but especially opium , cultivated in or transited (re-exported) through the Raj . The founder, Thomas Sutherland of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company , wanted
9184-449: The next chairman. However, while many current and former senior employees supported the tradition of promoting the chief executive to chairman, many shareholders instead pushed for an external candidate. HSBC's board of directors had reportedly been split over the succession planning and investors were alarmed that the row would damage the company. On 23 September 2010, Geoghegan announced he would step down as chief executive of HSBC. He
9296-619: The number of predicted stars. The Unicode Standard encodes several characters used for star ratings in the Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows block: The STAR WITH LEFT HALF BLACK and LEFT HALF BLACK STAR are intended for use in left-to-right contexts where the half star is positioned to the right of one or more whole stars, whereas the STAR WITH RIGHT HALF BLACK and RIGHT HALF BLACK STAR are intended for use in right-to-left contexts (such as Arabic or Hebrew ) where
9408-485: The objects best worth notice...; at the same time marking, with one or more exclamation points (according to their merit), those works which are deemed peculiarly excellent. Murray's Handbooks for Travellers and then the Baedeker Guides (starting in 1844) borrowed this system, using stars instead of exclamation points, first for points of interest and later for hotels. The Michelin restaurant guide introduced
9520-408: The origin of the mail). Everything at work was strictly confidential. People often sent money by post using envelopes without using registered mail due to the higher cost incurred. Thus, it was extremely important that postal workers were honest and did not steal any items that went through the mail. To reinforce the importance of confidentiality, the comptroller of the General Post Office would stand at
9632-729: The performance of vehicles in crash tests, including front, side and pole impacts, and impacts with pedestrians. The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also uses a star ranking to rank the safety of vehicles in crash tests, including front, side, pole impacts, and rollovers, with 5 stars being the most secure. Some web content voting systems use five-star grades. This allows users to distinguish content more precisely than with binary " like buttons ". Many recommender systems , such as MovieLens or Amazon.com , ask people to express preferences using star ratings, then predict what other items those people are likely to enjoy. Predictions are often expressed in terms of
9744-508: The player to repeat and fully master previously beaten levels in order to receive a perfect 3-star rating, which may confer other benefits or bonus content. Another use of star ratings is to denote the rarity of characters in video games where players are tasked in collecting numerous characters, such as Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes and Marvel: Contest of Champions , in which stronger and rarer characters are marked with more stars to make them appear more valuable. Stars are also used to rank
9856-515: The port, has been incorporated into a food and beverage outlet. The Fullerton Light, a revolving beacon of 540 kilocandelas mounted on the roof of the building, was installed in 1958 to replace the Fort Canning Lighthouse which was being demolished. The beacon could be seen by ships 29 kilometres (15.7 nautical miles ) away. The Lighthouse has been moved to a new location as an artefact near Harbour Front Tower. The Fullerton Building
9968-433: The public may ignore the reviews and concentrate more the star ratings alone. Star ratings are not often used to rate the quality of a video game but are rather used within certain games for varying purposes. One notable use of the star system is to grade a player's performance in completing a level with up to three stars, used in many modern multi-level games like Angry Birds . This three-star rating system challenges
10080-500: The quality of food and wine; the luxury level of the restaurant is rated separately, using a scale of one ("quite comfortable") to five ("luxury in the traditional style") crossed fork and spoon symbols. Hotel luxury is often denoted by stars. Other classifiers, such as the AAA Five Diamond Award , use diamonds instead of stars to express hotel rating levels. Hotels are assessed in traditional systems and rest heavily on
10192-459: The ratings but publishers don't. In the 31 July 1928 issue of the New York Daily News , the newspaper's film critic Irene Thirer began grading movies on a scale of zero to three stars. Three stars meant 'excellent,' two 'good,' and one star meant 'mediocre.' And no stars at all 'means the picture's right bad,'" wrote Thirer. Carl Bialik speculates that this may have been the first time
10304-660: The region, such as silver taels , due to political and economic instability. HSBC gained significant influence as a result. Michael Turner became chief manager in 1953 and set about diversifying the business. His tenure came to an end in 1962 having established The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation of California 1955 and having acquired The British Bank of the Middle East and the Mercantile Bank (based in India) in Aug 1959. Turner
10416-662: The same year. It was first formally incorporated in 1866. In 1991, the present parent legal entity, HSBC Holdings plc , was established in London and the historic Hong Kong–based bank from whose initials the group took its name became that entity's fully-owned subsidiary. The next year (1992), HSBC took over Midland Bank and thus became one of the largest domestic banks in the United Kingdom. HSBC has offices, branches and subsidiaries in 62 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America, serving around 39 million customers. As of 2023, it
10528-651: The two Indonesian military officers responsible for the bombing were tried and executed. The present building in Hong Kong was designed by Sir Norman Foster and was held as one of the most expensive and technologically advanced buildings in the world in 1986, costing HK$ 5.3 billion. On 6 October 1989, it was registered as a regulated bank with the Banking Commissioner of the Government of Hong Kong . HSBC Holdings plc, originally incorporated in England and Wales,
10640-498: The two lower floors with postal halls, offices and sorting rooms. Large mail drops placed mail on a band conveyor in the basement to be taken up to the sorting room. All mail was sorted by hand. One of the most memorable features of the GPO was its curved service counter which was almost 90 metres (300 ft) long. The basement was linked to a 35 metres (115 ft) subway , also called the GPO tunnel, that ran underneath Fullerton Road to
10752-490: The upper floors of the building to provide for their members' need and comfort. It originally only allowed entry to European tycoons and British civil servants. There are rooms where members dined, lounged , conferred, and played billiards and cards. Bedrooms on the attic storey provided accommodation for members. When the Economic Development Board (EDB) was formed in 1961, it evicted the Singapore Club from
10864-478: The year. The consumer banking division of HSBC will focus on the UK, Hong Kong , high-growth markets such as Mexico, Singapore, Turkey, and Brazil, and smaller countries where it has a leading market share. According to Reuters, Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver told the media, "There will be further job cuts. There will be something like 25,000 roles eliminated between now and the end of 2013." In August 2011 "to align our U.S. business with our global network and meet
10976-452: Was clad in Shanghai plaster panels, which have been restored. The owners converted the windows back to be housed in timber frames. Part of the tunnel under Fullerton Road, which was used to transfer mail onto ships waiting in the harbour, has also been kept. While the building's exterior has been conserved, the architects had also to transform the interior into a five-star hotel. The room on
11088-480: Was a non-trading, dormant shelf company when it completed its transformation on 25 March 1991 into the parent holding company to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited now as a subsidiary, in preparation for its purchase of the UK-based Midland Bank and the impending transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China. HSBC Holdings' acquisition of Midland Bank was completed in 1992 and gave HSBC
11200-614: Was actively circumventing US safeguards designed to prevent transactions involving terrorists, drug lords and rogue regimes, including hiding $ 19.4 billion in transactions with Iran. This investigation followed on from a probe by the US Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency found that there was "significant potential for unreported money laundering or terrorist financing". On 11 December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay
11312-488: Was against financial crime, and that the case "highlights the need for greater information sharing between the public and private sectors." On 1 October 2017, Mark Tucker succeeded Douglas Flint as group chairman of HSBC, the first non-executive and outside chairman appointed by the group. Also in October 2017, HSBC announced that John Flint, chief executive of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, would succeed Stuart Gulliver as Group Chief Executive on 21 February 2018. It
11424-456: Was an opponent of using symbols to summarize a review and wrote in 1992 that "When Globe editors first proposed the four-star system of rating movies about a year ago, the response from Globe critics was, to put it mildly, underwhelming." More recently, Mark Kermode has expressed a dislike of star ratings (assigned to his online reviews but not his print or radio reviews) on the grounds that his verdicts are sometimes too complex to be expressed as
11536-502: Was appointed chief executive of HSBC Bank plc after Brian Robertson's resignation. Keir's duties include overseeing the firm's UK, European, Middle Eastern, and African divisions. In June 2014, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary HSBC Life (UK) Limited agreed to sell its £4.2 billion UK pensions business to Swiss Re . In February 2015 the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released information about
11648-402: Was designed for natural ventilation before the age of air-conditioning ; one of the architectural devices used to provide this was the internal air-wells. There were four air-wells along the central longitudinal axis, divided by three internal bays of offices, linking the front façade with the rear. These no longer exist as most of the interior was demolished to create a single large atrium. It
11760-509: Was designed to utilize natural ventilation, thus has four internal air-wells to cool the interiors. Fullerton Square was an important commercial zone in Singapore attracting many European immigrants and soon became the core of major business activity. Many European businesses were set up at Fullerton Square together with large banks such as the Chartered Bank and HSBC . It also housed the Club for
11872-494: Was engaged to convert it into a 400-room luxury hotel. The hotel rooms were designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates . During its redevelopment, the historical building had most of its exterior architectural features retained and restored. The conservation work was coordinated by the URA, which had certain stipulations that the new owners had to comply with. Several features of the original building had to be restored faithfully. These included
11984-526: Was further announced on 5 August 2019 that Flint was leaving and his role would be filled on a temporary basis by Noel Quinn, head of HSBC's global commercial bank. Noel Quinn was subsequently appointed to the role on a permanent basis in March 2020. In February 2020, HSBC announced it would cut 35,000 jobs worldwide after it was announced corporate profits decreased by 33% in 2019. In 2020, HSBC announced merging two of its business lines: Retail Banking and Wealth Management & Global Private Banking to form
12096-478: Was planned. HSBC would no longer seek to be 'the world's local bank', as costs associated with this were spiraling and US$ 3.5 billion needed to be saved by 2013, with the aim of bringing overheads down from 55% of revenues to 48%. In 2010, then-chairman Stephen Green planned to depart HSBC to accept a government appointment in the Trade Ministry. Group Chief Executive Michael Geoghegan was expected to become
12208-763: Was ranked no. 20 in the world in the Forbes rankings of large companies ranked by sales, profits, assets, and market value. HSBC has a dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index and the FTSE 100 Index . It has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange , and the Bermuda Stock Exchange . HSBC has been implicated in
12320-424: Was succeeded as chief executive by Stuart Gulliver , while Green was succeeded as chairman by Douglas Flint ; Flint was serving as HSBC's finance director (chief financial officer). August 2011: Further to CEO Stuart Gulliver's plan to cut $ 3.5 billion in costs over the next two years, HSBC announced that it will cut 25,000 jobs and exit from 20 countries by 2013 in addition to 5,000 job cuts announced earlier in
12432-601: Was succeeded in 1962 by Jake Saunders . In 1964 the Chief Managership was superseded as the top executive role in the bank by an Executive Chairmanship. During the Konfrontasi period in the 1960s, a group of Indonesian forces bombed the MacDonald House building in Singapore (at the time used by HSBC) just a few months after Singapore was granted its independence from Malaysia. Three people were killed, 33 injured, and
12544-410: Was the largest and the last example of this kind of architecture in Singapore. As air-conditioning became increasingly common, the air-wells became redundant. Two parallel sets of guest rooms now ring the hotel's central triangular sky-lit atrium . One row faces out towards the harbour and the tall buildings of the central business district. The rooms of the inner ring have views of the courtyard in
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