HSBC announced Tuesday that it reached an agreement with U.S. authorities in connection with an investigation of money laundering and will pay $1.92 billion to end the criminal investigation, writes Market Watch. The Bank is charged with complicity in money laundering belonging to drug cartels and other entities which are barred from access to the U.S. financial system. HSBC announced that it will continue to work closely with regulatory authorities and will work to strengthen its compliance policies and procedures.
Stuart Gulliver, HSBC Group CEO, said: “We accept responsibility for our past mistakes.” HSBC, listed on stock exchanges in New York, London and Hong Kong, would put an end to a series of investigations conducted by the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal agencies and the Attorney General of Manhattan, according to AFP. HSBC (NYSE:HBC) stock closed Wednesday at $51.79 on the New York stock exchange. The shares are, for the past 52 weeks, on a upper trend, with a market capitalization of HSBC Holdings PLC valued at $190.63 billion.
Allegations have included links to drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia and terrorist financing. This record deal with U.S. authorities is coming after another British bank, Standard Chartered has agreed to pay $327 million in fines for violations of anti-money laundering rules, on top of a $340 million fine paid in August.
Both banks have settled after proposals coming from prosecution. They will not be prosecuted as long as some conditions are met. For HSBC these conditions include increased spending to combat money laundering activities and set up an office to fight financial crime. These examples are part of the broader investigation started by U.S. authorities that aims to stop money laundering. American authorities have already given fines of more than $4 billion as part of this action, in the past three years.
See in the graphics below the biggest settlements that financial institutions have had with U.S. authorities.
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