HSBC Bank Fined $85.1 Million for Anti-Money-Laundering Shortcomings -- Update

By Sabela Ojea

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority said Friday it has fined HSBC Bank PLC 63.9 million pounds ($85.1 million) because of a lack of efficiency of its transaction monitoring systems and anti-money-laundering processes.

The U.K.'s financial regulator said its investigation found that three key parts of the lender's transaction monitoring systems showed significant weaknesses over an eight-year period, from March 31, 2010, to March 31, 2018.

The watchdog said that since HSBC didn't dispute its findings and decided to settle as soon as possible, the fine was reduced by 30%. Otherwise, the fine would have risen to GBP91.4 million, the FCA said.

The regulator said the bank's control systems weren't effective for a long period of time. The FCA described the failings as "unacceptable" and said they exposed the bank and community to avoidable risks.

The monitoring systems' issues were highlighted several times, the regulator said, adding that remediation actions took a long time to take place.

HSBC failed at appropriately testing and updating the parameters within the systems that were used to determine whether a transaction was indicative of potentially suspicious activity, the FCA said.

"HSBC has undertaken a large-scale remediation program into its anti-money-laundering processes, which was supervised by the FCA," the regulator said.

Write to Sabela Ojea at [e-mail]; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 17, 2021 03:24 ET (08:24 GMT)

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