A hiring spate by some of the largest banks facing a variety of regulatory pressures has resulted in more than just a glut of compliance officers. It's been a training headache too.
Examiners from the nation's top regulators of broker-dealers are investigating whether HSBC Securities USA sufficiently scrutinized and reported suspicious transactions, according to an individual with knowledge of the matter.
U.S. lawmakers called for testimony from federal investigators Thursday as part of an effort to push for more aggressive punishment of individuals and financial institutions that aid money launderers and sanctions dodgers.
The U.S. government's landmark case against HSBC Holdings Plc for knowingly turning a blind eye to financial crime is seemingly fated to end much as it began: complex and messy.
Standard Chartered Bank's pending settlement with U.S. authorities for violating sanctions against Iran demonstrates the high-stakes compliance challenge inherent in holding U.S. dollar clearing accounts, say analysts.
Expected criminal and civil settlements over anti-money laundering lapses will likely cost HSBC Bank USA $1.5 billion or "significantly" more, the financial institution said in a regulatory filing Monday.
The New York banking regulator that imposed an unprecedented $340 million penalty on a London-based bank this month is likely to be equally tough on six other foreign banks identified as being the subject of similar investigations, say current and former government officials.
Most news accounts of Tuesday's U.S. Senate inquiry into HSBC Holding Plc's compliance failings led with the bank's anti-money laundering compliance chief's announced resignation before lawmakers. But what he meant, it turns out, is that he is only taking another job inside the bank.
HSBC Holdings Plc will close all of its U.S. accounts in the Cayman Islands after a congressional investigation found that the Caribbean branch functioned solely as a dollar-clearing shell bank.
The U.S. Treasury Department's regulator of large banks will revise how it examines for anti-money laundering compliance within months, the agency's chief told a congressional panel Tuesday.
Poor anti-money laundering controls on affiliates and problematic oversight allowed a global bank to process tens of trillions of dollars with little to no compliance checks, according to a U.S. Senate subcommittee.
U.S. senators will question representatives from HSBC Holdings Plc and its financial regulator next Tuesday over the findings of an unreleased report outlining concerns about the bank's anti-money laundering compliance program.
Even prior to the disclosure last month by HSBC Holdings Plc that it would "likely" be the subject of a formal enforcement action related to anti-money laundering (AML) and other violations, things did not look good for the bank, according to Saskia Rietbroek, a partner with nomoneylaundering.com.
As pressure mounts against HSBC Holdings for purported widespread violations of U.S. regulations, the U.K.-based bank may find it has little wriggle room to negotiate itself out of a costly settlement, say analysts.
HSBC Holdings Plc could pay as much as $1 billion for Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. sanctions violations, an amount that would overshadow previous fines for similar infractions, say sources.
The U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve issued separate enforcement actions Thursday against HSBC North America Holdings Inc. for systemic Bank Secrecy Act compliance violations.