Aug 04 2010 Brett Wolf
American authorities are probing the US division of HSBC Bank to determine whether it failed to meet its anti-money laundering obligations, the firm stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. The investigation reportedly centers on HSBC's global banknotes business as well as its foreign correspondent banking business. The bank's compliance with Office of Foreign Assets Control rules is also in question.
"In response to these matters, we have taken several initial steps to address the concerns of our regulators by enhancing risk management and strengthening processes and the supporting infrastructure in our Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering functions," the bank stated in the SEC filing.
HSBC added that it was the subject of ongoing examinations by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the US Department of Justice.
This is not a surprising development. As Complinet readers may recall, in February, Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan), chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, lambasted HSBC during a hearing on corrupt politically exposed persons. The fabled legislator reportedly said he planned to refer the bank to regulators with regard to accounts it provided to senior officials in Angola.
