HSBC reports potential money laundering breaches in Australia
Reuters
Published Apr 08, 2020 08:50AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC (L:HSBA) has reported itself to Australia's financial regulator for possible breaches of anti-money laundering rules, the bank disclosed in a regulatory filing by its Australian subsidiary.
The breaches involved small amounts of cross-border foreign currency transactions involving non-banking financial institutions that the London-headquartered bank was unable to properly report for technical reasons, HSBC said.
The 2019 annual report of HSBC's Australian subsidiary said it had flagged the potential breaches to AUSTRAC, a government agency that combats money laundering and financial crime.
"...regulators and other bodies may make findings that the bank has engaged in misconduct, including breaches of law or conduct that falls below community standards and expectations,” HSBC said.
An HSBC spokeswoman in Hong Kong said the bank would not comment further on its engagement with regulators.
HSBC paid a $1.9 billion fine and entered into a five-year deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities in 2012 for failing to prevent Mexican drug cartels from laundering hundreds of millions of dollars.
The bank has since invested billions of dollars into its internal controls, hired thousands of compliance staff and hired an independent monitor at the request of regulators to check its progress on improving its systems to prevent more breaches.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.