Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Senators doubtful as HSBC touts money-laundering fixes


Officials of HSBC Holdings Plc pledged to a U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday that the bank is changing the way it polices illicit funds, but senators were skeptical the bank could deliver on promises it had broken before.
HSBC's top compliance officer announced he was stepping down and that the bank will shut down businesses in secret havens such as the Cayman Islands, but those offers did not blunt the senators' allegations the bank sacrificed propriety for profits.
The hearing by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations came a day after the panel released a 400-plus-page report detailing how the British bank routinely acted as a financier to clients routing funds from the world's most dangerous corners, including Mexico, Iran and Syria.
While money laundering problems at HSBC have been flagged by regulators for nearly a decade, the criticism comes at a sensitive time for the banking industry.
Banks are facing fresh accusations of greed tied to allegations that international banks for years tried to rig the global lending benchmark rate Libor and other scandals, including a massive trading bet gone awry at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/17/us-hsbc-compliance-senate-idUSBRE86F18220120717

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