Now HSBC hit by Mexican fine

Published on 26/07/2012 00:00

HSBC has been fined $27.5 million (£17.7m) in Mexico for lax controls in its anti-money laundering systems, a week after being slammed for allowing clients to shift funds from dangerous and secretive countries in a scathing US Senate report.

The bank said yesterday that the fine by Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission was due to “non-compliance with anti-money laundering systems and controls” and related to late reporting of 1,729 unusual transactions, failing to report 39 unusual transactions, and 21 administrative failures.

A US Senate panel last week alleged HSBC acted as a financier to clients routing funds from the world’s most dangerous places, including Iran, Mexico and Syria, doing regular business in areas tied to drug cartels, terrorist funding and tax cheats.