HSBC Holdings Plc, the biggest corporate lender in the Asia-Pacific region in 2003, is left behind by its competitors led by Citigroup Inc. in the world’s fastest-growing loan market.

HSBC, founded as Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. in 1865, made $8.1 billion of loans for Asian companies outside Japan in the previous year, which made only 40 percent compared with that of Citigroup, according to the data provided by Bloomberg. New York-based Citigroup’s biggest branch for market share came in Asia-Pacific countries where it gave credits to Westfield Group in Sydney, the world’s No. 1 owner of shopping malls.

According to Bloomberg, Asia-Pacific companies last year borrowed about $120 billion, the most since at least 1998, amid the lowest global interest rates in more than 40 years. Australia received almost 40 percent of the region’s loans, while corporate borrowing in Hong Kong turning out to be at 13 percent, proved the lowest in more than six years.

``Outside of Hong Kong, HSBC is trailing the domestic banks, which dominate the local markets.’’ said Paul Smith, a former member of Deutsche Bank AG’s loan syndication team in Hong Kong. ``Hong Kong is definitely HSBC’s strongest market in the region and that market was relatively subdued last year.’’

Australia has turned into the region’s No. 1 market for corporate loans, and it’s a country where Citigroup, the world’s largest financial institution with a market value of about $245 billion, is prospering and HSBC, whose market value is about $178 billion, is struggling. Citigroup accounts for 20 Australian loans at $4.9 billion in 2004, more than seven times the amount of HSBC, according to Bloomberg data.