HSBC to pay $1.9bn money-laundering fine (Video) [1]

As seen at Aljazeera Last Modified: 11 Dec 2012 08:32

Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, will pay $1.92bn to settle a money-laundering probe by authorities in the United States, the bank has confirmed.

The probe of the British bank has focused on the transfer of billions of dollars on behalf of nations like Iran, which are under international sanctions, and the transfer of money through the US financial system from Mexican drug cartels.

HSBC admitted to a breakdown of controls and apologised in a statement announcing it had reached a deferred-prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice.

"We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again. The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organisation from the one that made those mistakes," said Stuart Gulliver, the bank's chief executive, in a statement on Tuesday.

COMMENTARY: ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT A FULL ADMISSION OF RESPONSIBILITY IT IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

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