HSBC has been hit with a £64m fine and sharply criticised by UK regulators for “serious weaknesses” in its anti money laundering controls over an eight-year period.
The Financial Conduct Authority said that, between March 2010 and March 2018, HSBC had a string of AML failures. They included not properly considering the scenarios it was using to pick up the risk of suspicious activity, not testing and updating its systems that flagged suspicious activity, and not checking the accuracy and completeness of the data it was gathering for AML checks.
“HSBC’s transaction monitoring systems were not effective for a prolonged period despite the issue being highlighted on numerous occasions,” said Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA.