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HSBC agrees to pay

December 11, 2012

HSBC will pay $1.9 billion to settle a money-laundering probe by US authorities, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The bank will also pay a civil fine of over $650 million.

https://p.dw.com/p/16zcn
A pedestrian passes a branch of HSBC bank in London (Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/dapd)
Image: dapd

The settlement, which works out to 1.47 billion euros, would resolve investigations by various federal and local agencies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The US has accused HSBC of giving Iran, terrorists and drug dealers access to the financial system. In July, the bank admitted to poor laundering oversight.

Back then, Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver said the issue had caused "considerable reputational damage".

The US Treasury declined to comment on the Wall Street Journal's report.

In early November, HSBC announced that the bank had increased the amount it kept set aside for fines linked to money laundering in the United States to $1.5 billion.

HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, also named Bob Werner the head of group financial crime compliance and money laundering reporting officer. The bank also announced on Monday that it would separate financial crime from other areas of compliance and set up an intelligence unit to carry out in-house investigations into potential regulatory breaches.

mkg/ccp (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)