https://www.fintechfutures.com/wp-content/themes/fintech_child/assets/images/logo/fintech-logo.png
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Analysis
    • Interviews
    • Features
    • White Papers
    • Case Studies
    • Surveys, Reports & Infographics
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Library
    • Techwire
    • Browse
  • Publications
    • Back
    • Banking Technology Magazine
    • Supplements
    • Daily News at Sibos
    • Subscribe to Magazine
  • Content Hub
    • Back
    • COVID-19: industry impact & response
    • Challenger Banks Guide
    • Food For Thought
    • I’m Just Saying
    • Through a Gen Z Lens
    • Ask The Expert
  • Videos
  • WTF? Podcast
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Banking Technology Awards
    • PayTech Awards
  • Advertise
  • Jobs
  • More
    • Back
    • About us
    • Contact us
    • Advertising / Media Kit
    • Banking Technology Magazine Calendar
    • Reports Calendar
    • FinTech Futures Newsletter
    • Events
  • FinTech
  • BankingTech
  • PayTech
  • RegTech
  • WealthTech
  • LendTech
  • InsurTech
Banking Technology
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Analysis
    • Interviews
    • Features
    • White Papers
    • Case Studies
    • Surveys, Reports & Infographics
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Library
    • Techwire
    • Browse
  • Publications
    • Back
    • Banking Technology Magazine
    • Supplements
    • Daily News at Sibos
    • Subscribe to Magazine
  • Content Hub
    • Back
    • COVID-19: industry impact & response
    • Challenger Banks Guide
    • Food For Thought
    • I’m Just Saying
    • Through a Gen Z Lens
    • Ask The Expert
  • Videos
  • WTF? Podcast
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Banking Technology Awards
    • PayTech Awards
  • Advertise
  • Jobs
  • More
    • Back
    • About us
    • Contact us
    • Advertising / Media Kit
    • Banking Technology Magazine Calendar
    • Reports Calendar
    • FinTech Futures Newsletter
    • Events
  • newsletter
  • FinTech
  • BankingTech
  • PayTech
  • RegTech
  • WealthTech
  • LendTech
  • InsurTech

bankingtech.com

bankingtech.com


HSBC dodges US money laundering charges

  • Written by Antony Peyton
  • 12th July 2016

HSBC has escaped charges of money laundering by US officials due to fears by the Department of Justice (DOJ) it might create a “global financial disaster”.

A US Congressional report shows that UK officials, including Chancellor George Osborne, used their clout to warn the US it could lead to market unrest.

According to the BBC, the report alleges the UK “hampered” the probe and “influenced” the outcome. HSBC was accused of letting drug cartels use US banks to launder funds.

HSBC paid a $1.92 billion settlement but no one, including top officials, faced criminal charges.

The report says: “George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, the UK’s chief financial minister, intervened in the HSBC matter by sending a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke… to express the UK’s concerns regarding US enforcement actions against British banks.”

The letter says that prosecuting HSBC could have “very serious implications for financial and economic stability, particularly in Europe and Asia”.

Few people emerge from the episode covered in glory.

The report accuses former US Attorney General Eric Holder of misleading Congress about the decision. It says Holder ignored the recommendations of more junior staff to prosecute HSBC because of the bank’s “systemic importance” to the financial markets, according to the BBC.

In addition, the report says: “Rather than lacking adequate evidence to prove HSBC’s criminal conduct, internal Treasury documents show that DOJ leadership declined to pursue [the] recommendation to prosecute HSBC because senior DOJ leaders were concerned that prosecuting the bank ‘could result in a global financial disaster’.”

As a result, DOJ and HSBC reached the settlement, which some politicians regarded as being too soft.

Sound of silence

The 2012 settlement with HSBC revealed the bank violated US sanctions by doing business for customers in Burma, Cuba, Iran, Libya and Sudan.

According to the BBC’s research, HSBC accounts were also used by the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico and Norte del Valle cartel in Colombia to launder $881 million.

The settlement meant HSBC avoided pleading guilty to any misdemeanours. If the bank had been found guilty of the financial crimes, it could have lost its banking charter in the US.

HSBC, US regulators and the UK Treasury have all declined to comment.

Tags: Anti-Money Laundering/AML, Banking, Financial Crime & Fraud, Financial Services/Finserv News UK, USA

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your FinTech Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related


  • What the Fintech? | S.2 Episode 1 | Innovation in commercial lending
    Innovation in commercial lending with special guest, Dean Snyder, EVP at AFS.
  • SME credit fintech Dinie lands dLocal deal one year into Brazil play
    Dinie was founded in the UK, made in Germany, and designed for Brazil.
  • Aion Bank signs payments processing deal with Form3
    Form3 to provide real-time payment processing, clearing and settlement.
  • New York cash advance app Brigit reveals $35m Series A
    Brigit’s CEO is a former Deutsche Bank and Infosys executive.
  • Prospective UK challenger Perenna lands $10m ahead of Q3 launch
    The fintech lodged its banking licence in the last quarter of 2020.
  • SWBC picks Finicity Pay to meet new ACH requirements
    Account verification needs a boost under new Nacha rules.
  • NAB signs SME payments deal with Eedenbull
    Eedenbull is providing a handful of systems to the major Aussie bank.
  • Biden reshuffles US financial regulators to reign in corporates
    Consumer protection fines against financial corporates have declined under Trump.

Related Content

  • ADQ's unnamed neobank nabs new CEO from Emirates NBD
  • Konsentus acquires Open Banking Europe initiative from EBA Clearing subsidiary
  • Capital One’s “wilful” AML failures land the bank a $290m penalty
  • Fintech funding deals globally 11-17 January 2021

Magazine

Banking Technology December/January issue out now

16th December 2020

Banking Technology November issue out now

  • 1
13th November 2020
view all

Reports & Surveys

Omdia Universe 2020-21: Temenos recognised as a leader for digital banking platforms

15th December 2020

Report: Digital KYB – a springboard to customer onboarding success

30th November 2020

Report: Three key strategies for customer experience success

15th November 2020
view all

Content Hubs

COVID-19: industry impact & response

26th June 2020

The rise of challenger banks around the world

26th June 2020

CRUX RegTech Digital Day – 28 July 2020

26th June 2020
view all

Podcast

What the Fintech? | S.2 Episode 1 | Innovation in commercial lending

20th January 2021

What the Fintech? Episode 18 | Year in review

18th December 2020

What the Fintech? Episode 17 | The spirit is willing, but the markets are weak

1st December 2020
view all

Videos

Video: Top fintech stories this week – 15 January 2021

15th January 2021

Video: Top fintech stories this week – 08 January 2021

8th January 2021

Video: Top fintech stories this week – 11 December 2020

13th December 2020
view all

White Papers

Embedded insurance: a $3tn market opportunity, that could also help close the protection gap

4th January 2021

White paper: The business value of ServiceNow for retail banks

12th December 2020

E-book: Migration to cloud – your guide to delivering an intuitive customer experience

8th December 2020
view all

Techwire

LifeYield Helped Advisors Create $11B of Potential Retirement Wealth in 2020

20th January 2021

Mogo Introduces 1% Bitcoin Cashback Rewards

20th January 2021

Future Looks Bright as Global VC Funding Soars to $300.5 Billion in the Second Biggest Year for VC Funding in a Decade – Signals Positive Outlook, According to KPMG

20th January 2021

Ault Global Holdings’ Coolisys Power Electronics Business Announces Opening of Sales Office in Las Vegas, Nevada for Its ACECoolTM and ACECool™ Hybrid Fast Electric Vehicle Charging Systems for Commercial Applications

20th January 2021

Wattpad Board of Directors Approves Agreement to be Acquired by Naver, the South Korean Internet Conglomerate and Home of WEBTOON™, a Leading Global Digital Comics Platform

19th January 2021

SellersFunding Opens Full Suite of Financial Tools to Walmart Sellers

19th January 2021

Music Royalties Inc. Launches Private Placement Offering on DealSquare

19th January 2021

Digital Vault Services GmbH launches its market solution for Digital Guarantees

19th January 2021
view all

Twitter

FinTech_Futures

A thing apart "What about tears that are not about life outside the office walls, but life inside them?" By… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

21st January 2021
FinTech_Futures

Douyin, the Chinese version of popular short form video app, TikTok, just added online payments to the app. fintechfutures.com/2021/01/tiktok…

21st January 2021
FinTech_Futures

Under the hood of London payments platform @Currencycloud - @rubyhinchliffe digs into tech, structure, product dev… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

21st January 2021
FinTech_Futures

.@pyypl's regulation-first approach to MENA starts to pay off with four-figure % transaction growth in 2020 fintechfutures.com/2021/01/pyypls…

21st January 2021
FinTech_Futures

Berlin-based corporate credit card start-up Moss raises €21 million in Series A fintechfutures.com/2021/01/corpor…

21st January 2021
FinTech_Futures

.@PPRO_Payments reaches $1bn valuation on back of $180m venture raise fintechfutures.com/2021/01/ppro-r…

21st January 2021
FinTech_Futures

Retailer Uniqlo [@UNIQLO_JP] cuts out middlemen with own payments integration, starting with Japanese stores fintechfutures.com/2021/01/retail…

21st January 2021
FinTech_Futures

Czech BNPL Twitso [@Twistocz] nabs €16 million in Series C funding fintechfutures.com/2021/01/czech-…

21st January 2021

Report: Digital Know Your Business (KYB)

Free download

Report: Three key strategies for CX success

Free download

Omdia Universe: selecting a digital banking platform

Free download

FinTech Futures Jobs

Find a job or post a vacancy

Fintech Futures
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
  • Fintech jobs
  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X