HSBC Bank Canada today affirmed that it will continue to support its bank-sponsored asset-backed commercial paper program, namely Performance Trust.

In a statement, the bank said “this announcement reflects our confidence in the quality of the underlying assets associated with this ABCP program.”

HSBC Investment Funds (Canada) Inc., manager of the HSBC Mutual Funds, and HSBC Investments (Canada) Limited, manager of the HSBC Pooled Funds, confirm that there is no exposure to third party asset backed commercial paper within any of these funds.

The bank said “We recognize that the functioning of the third-party ABCP market is of concern to many of our customers and continue to work with them and industry participants during this difficult time to find orderly solutions to address this market issue. HSBC is a member of the consortium proposing a solution intended to stabilize Canada’s non-bank ABCP market as announced on Aug. 16, 2007.”