The Irish arm of HSBC is being sued for more than half a billion dollars arising from the massive Ponzi scheme run by jailed US fraudster Bernard Madoff.

A HIGH Court judge has permitted the Irish arm of European banking giant HBSC to refrain from specifying — at this stage — the capacity in which hundreds of millions of investment monies were passed on by it to companies controlled by US fraudster Bernard Madoff.

A HIGH Court judge has made rulings aimed at a cost-effective and speedy resolution of a raft of legal actions brought here after more than one billion dollars of investor monies entrusted to the Irish arm of European banking giant HSBC ended up with now jailed US billion-dollar fraudster Bernard Madoff and his companies.

AN Irish investment firm is seeking the return of €31.6 million given to a company which was to be passed on for investment with international securities fraudster Bernard Madoff, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.