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HSBC Faces Money Laundering Probes in Switzerland and France
Swiss and French authorities are investigating the Swiss private-banking arm of HSBC over suspicions of money laundering in connection with what the lender called “two historical banking relationships.”
HSBC disclosed the investigations in an earnings report Wednesday, adding that both were at an early stage but could hold “significant” consequences for the London-headquartered bank. News of the probes comes a year after the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or Finma, subjected HSBC Private Bank to an independent monitorship after finding that the lender breached anti-money laundering regulations at various times when handling $300 million of high-risk transactions tied to Lebanon from 2002 and 2015.
The relevant accounts at HSBC Private Bank were held by two politically exposed persons, or PEPs, and engaged in back-and-forth transactions with accounts in Lebanon involving funds that originated from a Lebanese government institution, according to Finma, which banned the lender from onboarding more PEPs as clients in the near term.
A spokesperson for Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General told ACAMS moneylaundering.com on Wednesday that in January, Swiss federal prosecutors launched an investigation into HSBC linked to a separate, ongoing case against two individuals suspected of embezzling and laundering funds from Lebanon’s central bank.
Lebanon’s former central-bank governor Riad Salameh, who is under investigation in a dozen countries, and his brother, Raja, held accounts at HSBC Private Bank in Geneva, several news outlets reported.
| Topics : | Anti-money laundering |
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| Document Date: | July 30, 2025 |
