Prior to the creation of the group management board in 2006, HSBC's chairman essentially held the duties of a chief executive at an equivalent institution, while HSBC's chief executive served as the deputy.

Prior to the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 2007, the state-owned Liberia Telecommunications Corporation ( LIBTELCO ) held a legal monopoly for all fixed line services in Liberia, and remains the sole licensed fixed line telephone service provider in the country.

Prior to 1983, the Reuben Awards Dinner was held in New York City, usually at the Plaza Hotel.

Prior to major Taiwanese economic success, the mountainous areas held several endemic animal species and subspecies, such as the Swinhoe's Pheasant ( Lophura swinhoii ), Taiwan blue magpie ( Urocissa caerulea ), Formosan Black Bear ( Selanarctos thibetanus formosanus ), the Formosan Sika Deer ( Cervus nippon taiwanensis or Cervus nippon taiouanus ) and the Formosan landlocked salmon ( Oncorhynchus masou formosanus ).

Prior to the 2004 season, little hope was held out for the Rangers to improve on their losing ways.

Prior to the Pension Protection Act, employers were held responsible for investment losses as a result of such automatic enrollments.

The Prior of Crato held out in the Azores until 1583, and continued to actively seek to recover the throne until his death in 1595.

Prior to 1971, the Grammy Award ceremonies were held in different locations on the same day.

Prior to that there had been an agricultural society in the town dating back to the 1790s, which held ploughing competitions.

Prior to the adoption of the California Job Case, the capital letters were stored in a separate drawer or case that was located above the case that held the other letters ; this is why capital letters are called " upper case " characters while the non-capitals are " lower case ".

Meanwhile, a delegation from the African Union Commission praised the election for taking place with " calm and serenity " Prior to the 2009 election, Tunisia amended its constitution to allow more candidates to run for president, allowing the top official from each political party to compete for the presidency regardless of whether they held seats in parliament.

Prior to 1975, jurisdiction over family law matters was held and exercised largely by state Supreme courts under the Matrimonial Causes Act.

Prior to that, the challenge cup was held by nine different teams.

Prior to the speech the Armada had been driven from the Strait of Dover in the Battle of Gravelines eleven days earlier, and had by now rounded Scotland on its way home, but troops were still held at ready in case the Spanish army of Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma, might yet attempt to invade from Dunkirk ; two days later they were discharged.

Prior to that year, Mount Rainier held the world record for snow accumulation at Paradise in 1978.

Prior to the start of the 2011 – 12 season, Athletic Club's socios ( full members ) held their latest presidential election, which saw incumbent Fernando García Macua defeated by former long-serving player Josu Urrutia.

Prior to the 2000 general elections, the PRI held its first primaries to elect the party's presidential candidate.

Prior to the late 1930s, Sevier County's population, economy, and society — which relied primarily on subsistence agriculture — held little significance vis-à-vis any other county in the rural South.

Prior to parkrun a similar event was held known as the Wimbledon Common Time Trial.

Prior to 1984, AT & T Corp. also held investments in two smaller and otherwise independent companies, Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone ( SNET ).

Prior to receiving these titles, Rincewind held the post of Assistant Librarian, but it is unclear whether or not he retains the office.

Prior to 2006 it was held on the campus of Jefferson Davis Community College.

Prior to that, classes were held in the city hall building.

Prior to the construction of the current chapel, Roman Catholic services were held in the ice house at Lakeview House.

Prior to the construction of the ward house church was held in the homes of the settlers.

Prior to 1931, as soon as the first necessary run to win the game scored, the play was over, and the batter was credited only with the number of bases needed to drive in the winning run.

There are a number of interesting monuments, most notably that of Prior Vivian which was formerly in the Priory Church ( Thomas Vivian's effigy lying on a chest: black Catacleuse stone and grey marble ).

Prior to 1948, various standards for luminous intensity were in use in a number of countries.

Prior to World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations ; typically a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together.

Prior to FORTRAN 77, a number of preprocessors were commonly used to provide a friendlier language, with the advantage that the preprocessed code could be compiled on any machine with a standard FORTRAN compiler.

Prior to this injunction, Brown released three vocal singles, including a cover of Louis Jordan's " Caldonia ", and the 12-bar blues rock and roll number, " Out of Sight ", which further indicated the future direction of Brown's musical sound.

Prior to 1933, the ownership and management of the transport system in London was distributed among a large number of independent and separate organisations.

Prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914 detachable black or white plumes were worn with the pickehaube in full dress by German generals, staff officers, dragoon regiments, infantry of the Prussian Guard and a number of line infantry regiments as a special distinction.

Prior to the arrival of the Tai people and culture into what is now Thailand, the region hosted a number of indigenous Mon-Khmer and Malay civilizations.

Prior to establishing the nation's capital in Washington, D. C., the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia, New York City, and a number of other locations.

Prior to the release of HP-UX version 11. 11, HP used a decimal version numbering scheme with the first number giving the major release and the number following the decimal showing the minor release.

Prior to the mid 1990s, WNV disease occurred only sporadically and was considered a minor risk for humans, until an outbreak in Algeria in 1994, with cases of WNV-caused encephalitis, and the first large outbreak in Romania in 1996, with a high number of cases with neuroinvasive disease.

Prior to World War II, a number of major population transfers were the result of bilateral treaties and had the support of international bodies such as the League of Nations.

Prior to this, karaoke music was carried on laserdiscs. A large number of CD Movies sell in Indian market.

Prior to this version, the book had inspired a number of now-less-well-known stage and screen adaptations, including a profitable Broadway musical and three silent films.

Prior to the development of gachi muchi, the greatest overlap between yaoi and bara authors has been in BDSM-themed publications such as Zettai Reido, a yaoi anthology magazine which had a number of openly male contributors.

Prior to July 1999, official estimates placed the number of Falun Gong practitioners as high as 60 to 70 million nationwide, rivaling membership in the Communist Party.

Prior to the arrival of the missionaries, some 550 natives were scattered throughout the local area ; by 1790, the number of converted Christians had grown to 700, and just six years later nearly 1, 000 " neophytes " ( recent converts ) lived in or around the Mission compound.

Prior to 1939, as a part of National Steel Car Ltd. of Hamilton, the concern had been one of a number of shadow factories set up in Canada to produce British aircraft designs in safety.

Prior to Domesday, the village's name appears to have gone through a number of changes.

Prior to 1929 and the Great Depression, a number of businesses flourished in the city.

Prior to the American Civil War, Orange was the center of commerce and justice for Orange County, Virginia, and a number of antebellum buildings survive today.

Prior to that, she appeared in small roles in The Jazz Singer and a number of early lavish Technicolor musicals, including The Show of Shows, The Bride of the Regiment, and Under A Texas Moon.

Status Quo's single is credited to " Status Quo with Maddy Prior from Steeleye Span " and reached number 47 in the charts.