Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits-Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Defined contribution plan, total expense recognized	$ 30,000,000	$ 30,000,000	$ 32,000,000
Defined contribution plan and other non-qualified supplemental retirement plan, total expense recognized (less than $3 million)	3,000,000	3,000,000	3,000,000
Postretirement Plans Other Than Pensions [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Expected benefit payments, in next fiscal year	6,000,000
Funded status of plan, asset (liablity)	(59,000,000)
Defined Benefit Plan, Assumed Health Care Cost Trend Rates [Abstract]
Health care cost trend rate assumed for current fiscal year, participants under 65	7.20%
Health care cost trend rate assumed for next fiscal year	6.80%
Ultimate health care cost trend rate	4.50%
Year that rate reaches ultimate trend rate	2027
Hsbc North America [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Number of in-depth manager performance reviews to manage the pension plan's investment strategy (review)	2
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Duration used to calculate average returns for portfolio	20 years
Number of quarterly meetings to manage the pension plan's investment strategy (meeting)	4
Number of strategic reviews to manage the pension plan's investment strategy (review)	2
Long-term performance objectives, expected rate of return on plan assets	6.00%
Target asset allocations	100.00%
Increase (decrease) in fair value of plan assets, percent	(1.40%)
Contributions by employer	131,000,000	181,000,000
Adjusted funding target attainment percentage	90.00%
Present value of benefits earned by plan participants on annual basis	3,100,000,000
Expected benefit payments, in next fiscal year	$ 179,000,000
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Equity Securities [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations			40.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Standard & Poor's 500 [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	9.50%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Russell 2000 [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	3.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | EAFE [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	8.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Standard & Poor's or Citigroup Extended Market World Ex-US [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	3.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | MSCI AC World Free Index [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	11.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | MSCI Emerging Markets [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	5.50%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Fixed Income Securities [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations			59.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Barclays Long Government or Credit [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	51.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Barclays Treasury Inflation Protected Seccurities [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	8.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Cash and Cash Equivalents [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	0.00%		1.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | U.S. Treasury [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	1.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Investments for Long-term Growth [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	95.00%
Hsbc North America [Member] | HSBC North America Pension Plan [Member] | Near-term Investments [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]
Target asset allocations	5.00%