 has agreed to pay $101.5 million (£72 million) to settle a US criminal probe into rigged currency transactions. The settlement is made){kind=link}
HSBC (LON: HSBA) has agreed to pay $101.5 million (£72 million) to settle a US criminal probe into rigged currency transactions.
The settlement is made up of a $63.1 million fine and a $38.4 million cost in restitution to a corporate client.
The lender has admitted to misuse confidential information for its own profit. Last year, one of the group’s former bankers was convicted in relation to the probe.
Since this recent controversy and run in with the US authorities, the lender has promised to boost its compliance programme and internal controls. On top of this, the lender has said that it will fully cooperate with regulatory and law enforcement authorities.
This is not the first time the banking giant has come under fire. Thursday’s agreements came just a month after HSBC was let go from a five-year deferred prosecution agreement over its dealings with Mexican drug cartels and conducting of transactions for customers in countries barred by US sanctions in 2012.
“Despite the best efforts and intentions of many dedicated professionals, HSBC has fallen short of our own expectations and the expectations of our regulators,” said David Bagley, HSBC’s head of compliance at the time.
“I should add that the external environment in Mexico was as challenging as any I had ever experienced. Bank employees faced very real risks of being targeted for bribery, extortion, and kidnapping – in fact, multiple kidnappings occurred throughout my tenure,”
For the scandal dating back to 2012, the bank was fined $1.92 billion.
In a statement that HSBC released on Thursday, the lender said the $63.1 million fine equated to a 15 percent reduction that was due to the bank’s cooperation and “extensive remediation” efforts.