9/2022 HSBC was accused in 2012 of degenerating into a "preferred financial institution" for Mexican and Colombian drug cartels and other wrongdoers through what the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) called "stunning failures of oversight"

September 2, 202212:44 AM MSTLast Updated 5 months ago

Fed ends decade-long enforcement action against HSBC

Reuters

SINGAPORE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve has terminated a decade-long enforcement action against HSBC Holdings PLC under which Europe's biggest bank by assets was ordered to improve practices after violating money laundering and sanction rules.

London-headquartered HSBC was accused in 2012 of degenerating into a "preferred financial institution" for Mexican and Colombian drug cartels and other wrongdoers through what the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) called "stunning failures of oversight".

The bank agreed to pay a then-record $1.92 billion in fines and abide by a business improvement order after acknowledging it failed to maintain an effective program against money laundering and conduct basic due diligence on some of its account holders.

"Over the last decade HSBC's employees have worked hard to transform the bank's financial crime risk management capabilities," the bank said in a statement."