On Friday, the UK’s financial regulator announced that HSBC had been fined 63.95 million pounds ($85.16 million) for failing to follow anti-money laundering procedures.
The Financial Conduct Authority stated it discovered major flaws in three critical aspects of HSBC’s transaction monitoring systems spanning an eight-year period from March 31, 2010, to March 31, 2018.
HSBC had a succession of failures, according to the regulator, including insufficient monitoring of money laundering and terrorist financing scenarios until 2014 and poor risk assessment of “new scenarios” after 2016.
In addition, HSBC was found to have conducted insufficient testing and failed to verify the accuracy and completeness of data in monitoring systems.
“These failures are intolerable and exposed the bank and the community to avoidable risks,” said Mark Steward, executive director of the Financial Conduct Authority.
HSBC did not contest the findings; therefore its penalty was reduced from 91 million pounds, according to the regulator.
In a statement, an HSBC spokeswoman stated, “We are glad to conclude this case, which relates to HSBC’s legacy anti-money laundering systems and controls in the UK.”
“HSBC is dedicated to combating financial crime and safeguarding the global financial system’s integrity.”
