HSBC to pay €38m in money laundering probe

HSBC has agreed to pay Geneva authorities 40m Swiss francs (€37.96m) to settle a money laundering investigation at its Swiss private bank, one of a number of probes facing its Geneva-based wealth manager.

Leaked files published this year sparked allegations that HSBC’s private bank may have enabled clients to conceal millions of dollars of assets and dragged Europe’s largest lender into the sights of regulators including Geneva’s public prosecutor.

Following four months of inquiries, Geneva authorities said they had closed their investigation after HSBC agreed to pay 40m francs for wrongdoing, the largest such figure imposed by local prosecutors.

The bank said that no criminal charges would be filed and that neither the bank nor its employees were suspected of any current criminal offences.

HSBC’s Swiss arm is still facing investigations by US, French, and Belgian authorities. The Swiss unit has been in the spotlight ever since a former IT employee Hérvé Falciani fled Geneva in 2008 with files which were alleged to show evidence of tax evasion by its clients.

HSBC has apologised to customers and investors over the failings of its Swiss business and has said it has since been overhauled. It said the Geneva prosecutor had acknowledged the progress the bank had made.

Switzerland’s financial markets regulator FINMA had already found fault with HSBC in 2010-2011 for its poor internal controls and violations of money laundering guidelines.

Reuters