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| Article Title | Sentiment | Date | Summary | Stock | Id | Author |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article Title | Sentiment | Date | ||||
| HSBC Bank Executives Face Charges in $3.5 Billion Currency Case | -36 | 2016-07-21 00:00:00 | Minutes after the call ended, Mr. Scott and Mr. Johnson began aggressively buying up pounds. It is unclear where Mr. Scott, who is 43 and also a British citizen, is currently located. A lawyer for Mr. Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. Responding to the news, Mr. Johnson replied, “Ohhhh, Christmas,” using an expletive as an adjective. Mr. Johnson also gave his own personal recommendation along the same lines. | HSBC | {"Alexandra Stevenson"} | 27 |
| HSBC 'Too big to jail' report: George Osborne letter warned of 'financial contagion' if bank prosecuted | -47 | 2016-07-12 00:00:00 | "The report adds: "From the mid-1990s through September 2006, HSBC Group allowed approximately $660 million in OFAC prohibited transactions to be processed through U.S. financial institutions, including HSBC Bank USA. The report says: "DOJ has not been forthright with Congress or the American people concerning its decision to decline to prosecute HSBC. The Chancellor and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) warned that a possible criminal prosecution of the bank could lead to "very serious implications for financial and economic stability" and even another "global financial disaster. 'Very serious implications:' The Osborne letterThe FSA then flagged the issue to the Chancellor, George Osborne, who was equally worried. "The Congressional report, titled "Too Big to Jail", looks at the US Department of Justice's decision not to prosecute HSBC for money laundering offenses in 2012, instead hitting it with a $1.9 billion (£1.44 billion) fine. | HSBC | {"Oscar Williams-grut"} | 34 |
| Banks face scrutiny over pricing of precious metals: WSJ | -18 | 2015-02-24 09:26:46+00 | Switzerland's financial watchdog said in November it had found a "clear attempt" to manipulate precious metals price benchmarks. The CFTC issued a subpoena to HSBC Bank USA in January seeking documents related to the bank's precious metals trading operations, HSBC said on Monday. An investigation by German regulator Bafin found no signs of attempted benchmark price manipulation in precious metals, newspaper Handelsblatt reported last month. Precious metal benchmarks have come under increased regulatory scrutiny since a scandal broke in 2012 over manipulation of Libor interest rates. The banks operating the precious metals benchmarks, known as the fixes, said last year they would no longer administer that process. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 13 |
| HSBC Bankers Are First Individuals Charged in U.S. Currency Case | -45 | 2016-07-20 00:00:00 | The U.S. unsealed a complaint against him and Stuart Scott, the bank’s former head of currency trading in Europe, making them the first individuals to be charged in the long-running probe. Federal agents surprised an HSBC Holdings Plc executive as he prepared to fly out of New York’s Kennedy airport around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, arresting him for an alleged front-running scheme involving a $3.5 billion currency transaction in 2011. The U.K. Serious Fraud Office also found it difficult to make cases against currency traders and announced in March that it was dropping its efforts. HSBC was hired to trade about $3.5 billion in proceeds of the sale to pounds. Johnson and Scott blamed the pound’s rise on an unidentified Russian bank in their conversations with the client afterwards, according to the complaint. | HSBC | {"Ambereen Choudhury","Patricia Hurtado","Tom Schoenberg Patricia Hurtado Gavin Finch Ambereen Choudhury","Tom Schoenberg","Gavin Finch"} | 28 |
| U.S. sides with HSBC to block release of money laundering report | -20 | 2016-07-22 00:38:12+00 | "HSBC also argues that the Monitor's report should remain confidential, as have the Monitor, the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the US Federal Reserve and other HSBC regulators," HSBC said in a statement. The case is U.S. v. HSBC Bank USA NA et al, 2nd U.S. NEW YORK The U.S. government asked a federal appeals court on Thursday to block the release of a report detailing how HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) is working to improve its money laundering controls after the British bank was fined $1.92 billion. "A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment. The appeals court ruled that a Washington-based District Court judge lacked the authority to reject an agreement reached by U.S. prosecutors and the company. | HSBC | {"Mica Rosenberg"} | 31 |
| Finding the Fraud in the HSBC Currency Trading Case | -47 | 2016-07-26 00:00:00 | HSBC’s currency trading does not involve a security, so the case instead is based on the broad wire fraud statute. The charges against Mr. Scott and Mr. Johnson depend on showing more than just questionable ethics in profiting off a client. In United States v. Finnerty, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan upheld the dismissal of charges against a stock specialist for violating Rule 10b-5, the primary antifraud provision, for trading ahead of his firm’s customers. To prove fraud, however, prosecutors must show more than front-running because the trading is not necessarily deceptive, even though it breaks the rules for brokerage firms. And while it sounds like insider trading, the absence of a fiduciary duty means it falls outside that proscription. | HSBC | {"White Collar Watch","Peter J"} | 30 |
| Weak utility stocks, HSBC take the spark out of Britain's FTSE | -8 | 2015-02-09 16:55:58+00 | U.S. utility stocks were hit after strong jobs data on Friday supported expectations of a rise in U.S. interest rates by mid-year and pushed up U.S. Treasury yields. HSBC dropped 1.6 percent, taking nearly 8 points off the FTSE 100, the biggest individual weight on the index. The data also pushed up UK gilt yields as it eased some concerns about the health of the global economy. Both stocks were lifted by a rise in the price of gold after weak Chinese data boosted gold's appeal as a safe asset. "The rise in the bond yields and the weakness in the U.S. sector is hurting the UK utilities," said Securequity sales trader Jawaid Afsar. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 165 |
| HSBC top lawyer calls for new global anti-financial crime measures | -20 | 2016-09-26 09:11:42+00 | "Put simply, the way we do financial crime compliance is outdated," Stuart Levey, chief legal officer at HSBC (HSBA.L) told the annual Sibos financial conference. "...data privacy and bank secrecy restrictions are increasingly tough in a number of countries," Levey said, without naming which countries he was referring to. National secrecy and privacy laws often prevent such sharing, Levey said, hindering cross-border efforts to stop illicit money flows. HSBC has since stepped up efforts to improve its own controls, including hiring the U.S. Treasury's top anti-money laundering official Jennifer Shasky Calvery in April to lead a new Financial Crime Threat Mitigation team at the bank. LONDON Governments worldwide should pass new laws to facilitate the sharing of information between themselves and the private sector in order to better combat financial crime, HSBC's top lawyer told a banking conference in Geneva on Monday. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 133 |
| Banks face scrutiny over pricing of precious metals: WSJ | -18 | 2015-02-24 09:26:46+00 | Switzerland's financial watchdog said in November it had found a "clear attempt" to manipulate precious metals price benchmarks. The CFTC issued a subpoena to HSBC Bank USA in January seeking documents related to the bank's precious metals trading operations, HSBC said on Monday. An investigation by German regulator Bafin found no signs of attempted benchmark price manipulation in precious metals, newspaper Handelsblatt reported last month. Precious metal benchmarks have come under increased regulatory scrutiny since a scandal broke in 2012 over manipulation of Libor interest rates. The banks operating the precious metals benchmarks, known as the fixes, said last year they would no longer administer that process. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 143 |
| UPDATE 2-Banks face scrutiny over pricing of precious metals-WSJ | -19 | 2015-02-24 09:15:51+00 | Switzerland's financial watchdog said in November it had found a "clear attempt" to manipulate precious metals price benchmarks. ICE Benchmark Administration will run an electronic gold price benchmark from March 20 to replace the London gold fix. An investigation by German regulator Bafin found no signs of attempted benchmark price manipulation in precious metals, newspaper Handelsblatt reported last month. The CFTC issued a subpoena to HSBC Bank USA in January seeking documents related to the bank's precious metals trading operations, HSBC said on Monday. The DoJ also issued a request to HSBC Holdings in November seeking documents related to a criminal antitrust investigation it is conducting in relation to precious metals, HSBC said. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 144 |
| PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Feb 23 | -29 | 2015-02-23 01:10:01+00 | The original budget for the 141,000-tonne cruise liner, with accommodation for 3,600 passengers and 1,400 crew, had been 500 million pounds. Leaked files show that the Derby-born Gulliver held about 5 million pounds ($7.69 million) in a Swiss account. The final instalment of the 473 million pounds Britannia was 5 percent cheaper than expected because of the strength of sterling against the euro. (thetim.es/1AyXDpH)CHANCELLOR BREAKS HIS SILENCE OVER HSBC TAX SCANDALGeorge Osborne has broken his silence over the tax scandal surrounding HSBC Holdings Plc by saying that it should be left to the courts to deal with any wrongdoing. The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 161 |
| Swiss scandal haunts HSBC's former boss Stephen Green | -18 | 2015-02-10 17:20:01+00 | DUBLIN The scandal at HSBC's Swiss private banking arm is particularly awkward for former executive chairman Stephen Green. An ordained clergyman, who has written extensively about morality and banking, Green was one of the few British bank bosses to come through the financial crisis with his reputation largely intact. Opposition politicians in Britain are demanding a response from Green who was chief executive and subsequently executive chairman when much of the alleged evasion occurred. He made Green a trade minister in 2010 and put him in the British upper house of parliament. Green worked his way up through the ranks and was appointed to the board of HSBC Group in 1998 with responsibility for investment banking, asset management and private banking. | HSBC | {"Carmel Crimmins"} | 163 |
| Weak utility stocks, HSBC take spark out of Britain's FTSE | -8 | 2015-02-09 17:47:02+00 | U.S. utility stocks were hit after strong jobs data strengthened expectations of a rise in U.S. interest rates by mid-year and pushed up U.S. Treasury yields. HSBC shed 1.6 percent, taking nearly eight points off the FTSE 100, the biggest individual weight on the index. The data also pushed up UK gilt yields as it eased some concerns about the health of the global economy. "The rise in the bond yields and the weakness in the U.S. sector is hurting the UK utilities," said Securequity sales trader Jawaid Afsar. Traders said utility stocks fell on rising debt yields following a drop in shares of their U.S. rivals on Wall Street on Friday, when the S&P 500 index of utilities had its biggest daily percentage drop since August 2011. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 164 |
| UPDATE 3-HSBC bosses reject calls to quit after terrible list of problems | -42 | 2015-02-25 18:47:05+00 | "It's a terrible list," Flint said when a UK member of parliament read out the recent fines and investigations. One UK individual has been prosecuted and HMRC has reclaimed 135 million pounds ($209.34 million) from names on the HSBC list, including 15 million pounds in penalties. Britain's financial watchdog is looking at standards at the Swiss bank, but no UK authority has announced any criminal probe. "It clearly was unacceptable, we very much regret this and it has damaged HSBC's reputation," Gulliver told the Treasury Committee with regard to practices in its Swiss bank in the mid-2000s. It adds to a long list of banking scandals that have emerged since the financial crisis, including several at HSBC. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 167 |
| UPDATE 1-China Feb flash HSBC PMI at 4-month high but export orders contract | -11 | 2015-02-25 01:57:51+00 | Most analysts believe policy will be loosened further in coming months in the form of more rate cuts and reserve ratio reductions. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a reading of 49.5, little changed from January's final PMI of 49.7. This is especially after data earlier this month showed growth in China's broad M2 money supply slumped to its lowest on record in January. "Domestic economic activity is likely to remain sluggish and external demand looks uncertain," said Qu Hongbin, HSBC's chief economist in China. "We believe more policy easing is still warranted at the current stage to support growth. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 168 |
| UK tax authority and prosecutors to discuss HSBC files | -15 | 2015-02-25 18:43:52+00 | LONDON The UK tax authority said prosecuting and regulatory agencies would meet next week to discuss leaks of account information from clients who used a Swiss subsidiary of HSBC bank (HSBA.L) to evade tax. "The meeting will include the Serious Fraud Office, which investigates financial crime, UK financial regulator the Financial Conduct Authority, the Crown Prosecution Service, the City of London Police, the National Crime Agency and EuroJust, which co-ordinates investigation of serious crime across the EU. HMRC said in a statement on Wednesday that it had arranged a meeting with other agencies "to discuss how the stolen HSBC Suisse data can be shared with them. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and other agencies have been under pressure from lawmakers over why only one HSBC Swiss client had been prosecuted for tax evasion and why the bank itself had not faced more scrutiny. (Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 170 |
| India tax officials search HSBC's Mumbai headquarters amid Swiss allegations: source | -18 | 2015-02-24 11:30:34+00 | A sign is seen above the entrance to an HSBC bank branch in midtown Manhattan in New York City, in this file photo taken on December 11, 2012. India, Asia's third-largest economy, is the only Asian nation to aggressively investigate HSBC relating to allegations of helping customers pay less tax. The search came as HSBC prepared to release its annual report on Monday, in which the bank said it had received a request for information from Indian tax authorities. Its pursuit of Europe's biggest bank comes after details of HSBC's Swiss private banking operations and top clients were widely published in the media, sparking regulatory inquiries worldwide that could result in significant fines. REUTERS/Mike SegarMUMBAI Indian tax officials searched the Mumbai headquarters of HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBA.L) last week as part of a probe related to allegations that the bank's Swiss business helped clients dodge taxes, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 171 |
| UPDATE 3-Swiss market regulator says unlikely to probe HSBC further | -14 | 2015-02-24 15:16:22+00 | (Reporting by Oliver Hirt, writing by Tom Miles, additional reporting by Joshua Franklin, editing by Louise Heavens and Jane Merriman) Supervision of the financial market needs to be based on current problems, and the leaked information about HSBC related to 2006-2007, which was "light years" away, Wyss said. "In theory I can't rule out that something may come up which prompts FINMA to look into it again. The report, which contained statistics and sample cases from 2014, also said FINMA would step up its actions against individuals who have seriously violated supervisory law. But FINMA may still face political pressure to act, since a Swiss parliamentary committee has taken the unusual step of saying they want to question the watchdog about the HSBC case. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 173 |
| Swiss market regulator says unlikely to probe HSBC further | -14 | 2015-02-24 15:20:33+00 | REUTERS/Dylan MartinezBERNE Switzerland's financial markets regulator FINMA is unlikely to look into possible wrongdoing at HSBC's (HSBA.L) Swiss private bank in the light of leaked information that was published this month, FINMA's head of enforcement said on Tuesday. Workers carry out maintenance at a 'hole in the wall' cash dispenser at a branch of HSBC in London February 22, 2015. Supervision of the financial market needs to be based on current problems, and the leaked information about HSBC related to 2006-2007, which was "light years" away, Wyss said. But FINMA may still face political pressure to act, since a Swiss parliamentary committee has taken the unusual step of saying they want to question the watchdog about the HSBC case. (Reporting by Oliver Hirt, writing by Tom Miles, additional reporting by Joshua Franklin, editing by Louise Heavens and Jane Merriman) | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 174 |
| UPDATE 1-CFTC subpoenaed HSBC Bank USA for documents on metals trading | -11 | 2015-02-23 14:44:14+00 | * CFTC, Dept of Justice request documents on precious metals ops* HSBC, other banks named in precious metals lawsuits last year (Adds background, detail)By Jan HarveyLONDON, Feb 23 The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a subpoena to HSBC Bank USA in January seeking documents related to the bank's precious metals trading operations, HSBC said in its annual report and accounts statement on Monday. ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) will run an electronic gold price benchmark from March 20 to replace the century-old London gold fix. An electronic daily silver price benchmark is now administered by Thomson Reuters and CME Group, while the London Metal Exchange provides twice-daily benchmark platinum and palladium prices. The banks involved in production of precious metals benchmarks, known as the 'fixes', said last year that they would no longer administer that process. The U.S. Department of Justice also issued a request to HSBC Holdings in November seeking documents related to a criminal antitrust investigation that the DoJ is conducting in relation to precious metals, it added. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 175 |
| CFTC subpoenaed HSBC Bank USA for documents on metals trading | -11 | 2015-02-23 14:49:04+00 | LONDON The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a subpoena to HSBC Bank USA in January seeking documents related to the bank's precious metals trading operations, HSBC said in its annual report and accounts statement on Monday. ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) will run an electronic gold price benchmark from March 20 to replace the century-old London gold fix. The U.S. Department of Justice also issued a request to HSBC Holdings in November seeking documents related to a criminal antitrust investigation that the DoJ is conducting in relation to precious metals, it added. The banks involved in production of precious metals benchmarks, known as the 'fixes', said last year that they would no longer administer that process. An electronic daily silver price benchmark is now administered by Thomson Reuters and CME Group, while the London Metal Exchange provides twice-daily benchmark platinum and palladium prices. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 176 |
| HSBC says Swiss scandal has brought 'shame' on bank | -23 | 2015-02-23 18:18:39+00 | HSBC confirmed that Gulliver has a Swiss bank account and while there is no suggestion he broke any rules, the revelations come at a sensitive time. I think shame would be reasonable noun to use," Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver told reporters. Gulliver was himself thrust into the center of the scandal on Sunday when Britain's Guardian newspaper said he had sheltered millions of pounds in HSBC's Swiss private bank via a Panamanian company. LONDON HSBC (HSBA.L) reported a 17 percent fall in annual pretax profit and cut its profitability target, saying allegations its Swiss business had helped customers to dodge taxes had brought shame on the bank. "A number of us, myself included, think the practices of the private bank back in the past are a source of shame and reputational damage to HSBC. | HSBC | {"Steve Slater","Matt Scuffham"} | 177 |
| HSBC may face extra $1 billion in FX fines, U.S. compensation costs | -9 | 2015-02-23 11:17:20+00 | "HSBC paid $611 million to U.S. and UK authorities in November when it was one of six banks fined for alleged manipulation of FX markets. Workers carry out maintenance at a 'hole in the wall' cash dispenser at a branch of HSBC in London February 22, 2015. HSBC said in its annual report on Monday it had paid restitution to some U.S. customers in connection to debt protection and other products offered before May 2012. REUTERS/Dylan MartinezLONDON HSBC Holdings Plc has set aside $550 million more to cover potential fines for alleged manipulation of foreign exchange markets and warned it could face a $500 million bill to compensate U.S. customers sold debt protection products. It said additional remediation for this issue "may lie in a range from zero to an amount up to $500 million. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 180 |
| HSBC may face extra $1 bln in FX fines, U.S. compensation costs | -9 | 2015-02-23 11:12:35+00 | "HSBC paid $611 million to U.S. and UK authorities in November when it was one of six banks fined for alleged manipulation of FX markets. HSBC said in its annual report on Monday it had paid restitution to some U.S. customers in connection to debt protection and other products offered before May 2012. LONDON Feb 23 HSBC Holdings Plc has set aside $550 million more to cover potential fines for alleged manipulation of foreign exchange markets and warned it could face a $500 million bill to compensate U.S. customers sold debt protection products. It said additional remediation for this issue "may lie in a range from zero to an amount up to $500 million. U.S., UK and other authorities are still investigating the issue and the bank had $550 million provisioned at the end of December, its annual report said. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 181 |
| UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Feb. 13 | -8 | 2015-02-13 07:23:17+00 | * SEVERN TRENT : Utility Severn Trent said it was on track to meet full-year expectations. * HSBC : The Bank of England may look into allegations that Europe's biggest bank HSBC helped clients to avoid paying tax, a top BoE official said on Friday. LONDON Feb 13 Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening up by 22 to 29 points, or 0.4 percent higher on Friday, according to financial bookmakers. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on* The UK blue chip index closed 0.2 percent higher at 6,828.11 points on Thursday. * FRESNILLO : Gold and silver miner Fresnillo said it saw an adverse impact of around $20 million on its gross profits. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 223 |
| Lloyds hopes for waiver from ring-fenced board demand -sources | -9 | 2015-01-06 12:57:24+00 | At present, six lenders would be affected -- HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander UK and the Co-operative Bank. By dividing up a bank's activities, it would make it easier to wind up troubled sections without the risk of dragging down the healthy parts of the business. Among the requirements will be new boards for the supposedly safer, ring-fenced entities, new staff contracts and separate pension schemes. Barclays plans to keep its Barclaycard credit card division outside of the ringfence, the sources said. "The PRA will consider applications from firms for modifications of rules," the regulator said in a consultation paper published in October. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 226 |
| Banks to pay extra $6.3 billion UK tax over next five years | -7 | 2014-12-03 18:23:00+00 | LONDON Banks will pay an extra 4 billion pounds ($6.3 billion) in taxes over the next five years due to changes announced in the autumn statement, Finance Minister George Osborne said on Wednesday. Lloyds did not give a separate UK figure but has 5 billion pounds of deferred tax assets in total, the majority of which are in Britain. In Britain, RBS had 2.4 billion pounds of deferred tax assets at the end of 2013, Barclays had 499 million, HSBC had 255 million and Standard Chartered 110 million. Standard Chartered were up 1.5 percent. "The banks got public support in the crisis and they should now support the public in the recovery. | HSBC | {"Matt Scuffham","Steve Slater"} | 234 |
| RPT-HSBC Swiss tax scrutiny set to overshadow $21 bln profit | -21 | 2015-02-22 09:00:00+00 | HSBC's shares have fallen 2 percent since the Swiss tax allegations were widely reported, lagging a 4 percent rise by the European bank index in that period. Yet allegations that HSBC's Swiss private bank helped clients dodge taxes will cast a shadow over its anniversary plans in the first week of March and over its annual results this Monday. Gulliver will be paid about 7.4 million pounds ($11 million) for 2014, Sky News reported on Friday. Losses from bad loans are predicted to fall by $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion, but that will be offset by a 23 percent drop in revenues in its global banking and markets division to $7.2 billion, analysts reckon. The biggest concern for HSBC could be that U.S. authorities may look at re-opening a 2012 deferred prosecution agreement. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 244 |
| British minister pledges new criminal offence for those aiding tax evasion | -22 | 2015-02-22 12:53:20+00 | Those who help others commit tax evasion will face the same financial penalty as the evaders themselves. Tax evasion is already illegal in Britain but the new law would make it explicit that those assisting tax evaders would also be open to punishment. Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and a member of junior coalition partner the Liberal Democrats, said the new offence of corporate failure to prevent economic crime would include aiding or facilitating tax evasion. LONDON Feb 22 A new criminal offence should be introduced to clamp down on tax evasion, a senior figure in Britain's finance ministry said on Sunday in the wake of a scandal surrounding HSBC. It should be the same if some helps a tax evader," Alexander said in a statement. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 245 |
| UPDATE 4-Swiss prosecutor raids HSBC office, opens criminal inquiry | -37 | 2015-02-18 17:22:44+00 | In an unusual move, the Geneva prosecutor's office notified the media of the raid as it was going on. * Geneva prosecutor opens inquiry into HSBC tax allegations* HSBC's Geneva premises searched* Adds to inquiries into HSBC Swiss bank allegations (Updates with search continuing at 5pm, boxes of archives brought to HSBC site)By Marina DepetrisGENEVA, Feb 18 Geneva's public prosecutor searched HSBC's lakeside Swiss office on Wednesday after opening a criminal inquiry into allegations of aggravated money laundering, the second probe to hit the bank this week. HSBC SAYS BUSINESS TRANSFORMEDHSBC's private bank has major operations in Switzerland, London and Hong Kong, and its chief executive, Peter Boyles, is based in the lakeside Geneva office. U.S. officials then opened a criminal investigation and French magistrates put the bank under formal investigation last November. Swiss financial regulator FINMA, which had already investigated HSBC and criticised its internal controls in 2011, said it was aware of the proceedings by the Geneva prosecutor and was in contact with HSBC about it. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 249 |
| HSBC whistleblower says would face Swiss trial under conditions | -9 | 2015-02-18 19:42:51+00 | Under Swiss criminal law, prosecutors may grant a so-called "safe conduct" preventing its subject from facing arrest. (Reporting by Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in Geneva and Matthias Blamont in Paris; Writing by Maria Sheahan; editing by Susan Thomas) REUTERS/Andrea ComasZURICH Herve Falciani, the former HSBC employee who supplied information on the bank's clients and their tax situation, said he was willing to return to Switzerland to stand trial if he was given assurances that he would not face immediate arrest. Herve Falciani, an ex-HSBC employee wanted in Switzerland on charges of stealing data on bank accounts, attends the presentation of the Citizen Net X Party (Red Ciudadana Partido X) in Madrid January 29, 2014. "I hope to have the possibility of a right of safe passage first to attend my trial, I am not trying to dodge my responsibility," Falciani told Swiss French-language broadcaster RSR, which said he was speaking from a cafe in Italy. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 251 |
| HSBC says sorry over past standards at Swiss bank | -13 | 2015-02-16 08:05:55+00 | REUTERS/Peter NichollsLONDON HSBC apologized to customers and investors on Sunday for past practices at its Swiss private bank after allegations that it helped hundreds of clients to dodge taxes. A Swiss International aircraft flies past the HSBC headquarters building in the Canary Wharf financial district in east London February 15, 2015. The bank said that the vast majority of the 140 people named in reports as customers of its Swiss bank had left and that it has since established much tighter controls on who it accepts as customers. The disclosures have sparked a political row in Britain over practices at HSBC and whether tax authorities had done enough to pursue possible wrongdoers. "We have absolutely no appetite to do business with clients who are evading their taxes or who fail to meet our financial crime compliance standards," Gulliver said. | HSBC | {"Steve Slater","Paul Sandle"} | 252 |
| UPDATE 1-Britain's HSBC says sorry over past standards at Swiss bank | -16 | 2015-02-15 15:08:32+00 | "We have absolutely no appetite to do business with clients who are evading their taxes or who fail to meet our financial crime compliance standards," Gulliver said. The bank said that the vast majority of the 140 people named in reports as customers of its Swiss bank had left and that it has since established much tighter controls on who it accepts as customers. The disclosures have sparked a political row in Britain over practices at HSBC and whether tax authorities had done enough to pursue possible wrongdoers. It is addressed to customers, shareholders and colleagues and is signed by Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver. Most of the message echoes an email sent to staff on Friday, when Gulliver said that the bank had sometimes failed to live up to the standards expected of it. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 255 |
| Former HSBC chairman steps down from City lobby group after leaks | -10 | 2015-02-14 16:46:27+00 | Former HSBC Chairman Stephen Green speaks during the G20 CEO Summit in Seoul November 10, 2010. Green was HSBC chairman from 2006 until 2010. Green, who is under increasing pressure over the HSBC revelations, quit as chairman of TheCityUK's advisory council, an unpaid position, the organization said on Saturday. REUTERS/Aly SongLONDON A former boss of HSBC, Stephen Green, has stepped down from his position with a financial services lobby group after allegations that the bank helped people dodge taxes. "This is entirely his own decision," Gerry Grimstone, chairman of the TheCityUK's board, said, describing Green as a man of great personal integrity. | HSBC | {"William Schomberg"} | 256 |
| UPDATE 1-Former HSBC chairman steps down from City lobby group after leaks | -9 | 2015-02-14 16:40:10+00 | Green was HSBC chairman from 2006 until 2010. Green, who is under increasing pressure over the HSBC revelations, quit as chairman of TheCityUK's advisory council, an unpaid position, the organisation said on Saturday. "This is entirely his own decision," Gerry Grimstone, chairman of the TheCityUK's board, said, describing Green as a man of great personal integrity. The leader of Britain's Labour Party, Ed Miliband, accused the Conservative-led government of Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday of not being tough enough on tax avoiders. If Labour wins national elections on May 7, it will launch an independent, root and branch review of the culture and practice of Britain's tax office, Miliband said. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 257 |
| UPDATE 1-HSBC chief says bank sometimes fell short of standards | -12 | 2015-02-13 17:42:09+00 | Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes. The disclosures have sparked a political row in Britain over practices at HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, and whether tax authorities had done enough to pursue possible wrongdoers. "But we must acknowledge we sometimes failed to live up to the standards the societies we serve rightly expected from us. Gulliver said in a memo to staff seen by Reuters he had been called to give evidence to lawmakers over the allegations. Gulliver said HSBC's Swiss bank had been completely overhauled since 2008 and HSBC was now run with far greater central control and with more than 7,000 compliance staff, double the number in 2011. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 258 |
| HSBC chief says bank sometimes fell short of standards | -12 | 2015-02-13 17:54:33+00 | Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes. The disclosures have sparked a political row in Britain over practices at HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, and whether tax authorities had done enough to pursue possible wrongdoers. LONDON The boss of HSBC (HSBA.L) said the bank had sometimes failed to live up to the standards expected of it, in his first response to allegations of helping hundreds of people dodge taxes. Gulliver said HSBC's Swiss bank had been completely overhauled since 2008 and HSBC was now run with far greater central control and with more than 7,000 compliance staff, double the number in 2011. HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint has already been called to answer questions about the issue on Feb. 25. | HSBC | {"Steve Slater"} | 259 |
| Bank of England may look into HSBC tax case | -12 | 2015-02-13 17:54:33+00 | REUTERS/Luke MacGregorLONDON The Bank of England may look into allegations that Europe's biggest bank HSBC (HSBA.L) helped clients to avoid paying tax, a top BoE official said on Friday. Another regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for making sure bank employees behave properly. The Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority authorizes and supervises HSBC for safety and soundness, making sure it holds enough capital. Britain's Serious Fraud Office said on Thursday it was open to discussing the allegations with British tax authority, HMRC. "The allegations around HSBC raise serious issues around HSBC's conduct," Jon Cunliffe, the BoE's deputy governor for financial stability, told BBC radio. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 261 |
| UK lawmakers to haul up HSBC, tax chiefs over Swiss bank allegations | -29 | 2015-02-12 17:45:59+00 | "The (Treasury) Committee is concerned about allegations involving HSBC and its Swiss private bank," said committee chairman Andrew Tyrie. HMRC's Homer told lawmakers that media allegations about HSBC clients did not prove wrongdoing on the part of the bank. REUTERS/Pierre AlbouyLONDON British lawmakers plan to call up the bosses of HSBC and the tax authority, HMRC, to quiz them over allegations some clients of HSBC's Swiss private bank evaded tax. Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes. Several countries have said they are investigating the list of HSBC clients for possible tax evasion, although not all had access to the data. | HSBC | {"Steve Slater","Kirstin Ridley"} | 263 |
| UPDATE 1-Israel tax authorities still trying to get leaked HSBC account list | -8 | 2015-02-12 14:30:07+00 | We tried in various ways, direct and indirect, but we didn't get it," said Idit Lev-Zerahia, a spokeswoman for the Israel Tax Authority. The tax authority is offering immunity from criminal prosecution for anyone who comes forward to report an account abroad. "Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal in Israel, as long as it is reported to authorities. "Moshe Asher, the head of the authority, told the Globes financial newspaper he was rebuffed by French authorities when trying to get the details but that the tax authority was "determined to obtain this list. The tax authority has many other lists of people with bank accounts in Switzerland, Lev-Zerahia said. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 264 |
| Israel tax authorities still trying to get leaked HSBC account list | -7 | 2015-02-12 17:45:59+00 | We tried in various ways, direct and indirect, but we didn't get it," said Idit Lev-Zerahia, a spokeswoman for the Israel Tax Authority. "Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal in Israel, as long as it is reported to authorities. The tax authority is offering immunity from criminal prosecution for anyone who comes forward to report an account abroad. "Moshe Asher, the head of the authority, told the Globes financial newspaper he was rebuffed by French authorities when trying to get the details but that the tax authority was "determined to obtain this list. Asher, the head of the tax authority, noted that since the leaked HSBC accounts were held between 1998 and 2007, it was possible some had since been closed or transferred. | HSBC | {"Steven Scheer","Tova Cohen"} | 265 |
| UK lawmakers to call up HSBC, tax office over Swiss tax allegations | -8 | 2015-02-12 15:55:53+00 | REUTERS/Arnd WiegmannLONDON British lawmakers said on Thursday they planned to take evidence from HSBC (HSBA.L) and the UK tax authority over allegations that some clients of HSBC's Swiss private bank evaded tax. The HSBC bank logo is pictured at a branch office at the Paradeplatz in Zurich February 10, 2015. "The (Treasury) Committee is concerned about allegations involving HSBC and its Swiss private bank," said Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Committee, which watches over the financial industry. HSBC this week admitted failings in compliance and controls in its Swiss private bank after media reports alleged it helped wealthy customers conceal millions of dollars of assets in a period up to 2007. The Committee will need reassurance that they have done so in private banking," Tyrie said in a statement on Thursday. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 266 |
| HSBC's reforms at Swiss bank eat into profits | -16 | 2015-02-11 18:49:22+00 | It said there were a large number of client withdrawals in 2013, the year the Swiss private bank dropped into the red. The HSBC bank logo is pictured at a branch office at the Paradeplatz in Zurich February 10, 2015. Its Swiss private bank lost $291 million in 2013, the last set of published full-year results, and only scraped a $14 million profit in the first-half of 2014. The same year HSBC said it began a radical transformation of its Swiss private bank to prevent it being used to evade taxes or launder money. The Swiss private bank was effectively built from its $10 billion purchase in 1999 of Republic National Bank of New York and Safra Republic Holdings, banks controlled by Lebanese financier Edmond Safra. | HSBC | {"Steve Slater"} | 268 |
| Argentina says UK asks for cooperation in HSBC tax probe | -14 | 2015-02-11 14:13:32+00 | HSBC Argentina rejected the charge, saying it respected Argentine law. In November Argentina charged HSBC with helping more than 4,000 clients evade taxes by stashing their money in secret Swiss bank accounts. (Additional reporting by Tom Bergin in London and Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) The bank also faces investigation by U.S. authorities who have stepped up efforts to establish whether the world's second-largest bank helped Americans evade taxes. BUENOS AIRES Feb 11 Britain has asked Argentina for information about the South American country's investigation into HSBC Holdings Plc, Buenos Aires said on Wednesday, part of a widening probe into allegations that the bank helped clients dodge taxes. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 270 |
| Belgian judge withdraws arrest threat for HSBC directors | -12 | 2015-02-11 17:57:10+00 | Earlier this week, prosecutors said the judge was considering issuing international arrest warrants because the bank was not giving information voluntarily. REUTERS/Suzanne PlunkettBRUSSELS HSBC (HSBA.L) has offered to co-operate with Belgian authorities and as a result a judge has withdrawn his threat to issue international arrest warrants against senior directors of its Swiss private banking arm, Brussels prosecutors said on Wednesday. The Belgian judge has charged the HSBC unit with tax fraud and money laundering, accusing it of offering diamond dealers and other wealthy clients ways of hiding cash and evading tax. An HSBC sign is seen outside a bank branch in London February 9, 2015. HSBC this week admitted failings in compliance and controls at its Swiss private bank after media reports said it helped wealthy customers conceal millions of dollars of assets in a period up to 2007. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 271 |
| UPDATE 2-UK's Cameron comes under pressure in parliament over HSBC tax scandal | -10 | 2015-02-11 16:08:48+00 | "How can the prime minister explain the revolving door between the Tory (Conservative) Party HQ and the Swiss branch of HSBC? "He's a dodgy prime minister, surrounded by dodgy donors. "For 13 years they sat in the Treasury, they did nothing about tax transparency, nothing about tax dodging, nothing about tax avoidance," he said of Labour. Cameron did not dispute the donations -- from seven unnamed individuals -- and there is no suggestion the account holders did anything illegal. After the leak this month of its Swiss bank's customer list, HSBC admitted failings in compliance and controls at the unit. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 272 |
| UK's Cameron comes under pressure in parliament over HSBC tax scandal | -9 | 2015-02-11 18:42:10+00 | REUTERS/Andrew YatesLONDON British Prime Minister David Cameron came under pressure in parliament on Wednesday over a tax scandal engulfing HSBC's Swiss arm when the opposition Labour Party accused Cameron's party of accepting donations from "dodgy" HSBC account holders. "How can the prime minister explain the revolving door between the Tory (Conservative) Party HQ and the Swiss branch of HSBC? "For 13 years they sat in the Treasury, they did nothing about tax transparency, nothing about tax dodging, nothing about tax avoidance," he said of Labour. "He's a dodgy prime minister, surrounded by dodgy donors. Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband gestures as launches his party's 2015 election campaign, at the Lowry Theatre in Salford, north west England January 5, 2015. | HSBC | {"Andrew Osborn"} | 273 |
| HSBC could face U.S. legal action over Swiss accounts | -33 | 2015-02-10 12:47:24+00 | The HSBC client data were supplied by Herve Falciani, a former IT employee of HSBC's Swiss private bank, HSBC said. Uruguayan soccer player Diego Forlan, who was also on the list, on Monday denied evading taxes by hiding money in Swiss accounts with HSBC. "We acknowledge and are accountable for past compliance and control failures," HSBC said after news outlets published the allegations about its Swiss private bank. Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes. French authorities have obtained data on thousands of the customers and shared them with tax authorities elsewhere, including Argentina. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 275 |
| UPDATE 4-HSBC could face U.S. legal action over Swiss accounts | -34 | 2015-02-10 09:28:21+00 | The HSBC client data were supplied by Herve Falciani, a former IT employee of HSBC's Swiss private bank, HSBC said. Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes. French authorities have obtained data on thousands of the customers and shared them with tax authorities elsewhere, including Argentina. "Its private bank, especially its Swiss arm, had undergone "a radical transformation" in recent years, it said in a detailed four-page statement. "We acknowledge and are accountable for past compliance and control failures," HSBC said after news outlets published the allegations about its Swiss private bank. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 276 |
| UK minister questions when HSBC put tax scandal practices behind it | -20 | 2015-02-10 15:54:01+00 | Cable's intervention comes as HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) faces investigation by U.S. authorities and an inquiry by British lawmakers after admitting failings by its Swiss private bank that may have allowed some customers to avoid taxes. Cable told HSBC he was also concerned the allegations meant the bank may have flouted a taxation practice code which it signed up to in 2010. But Sue Shelley, the sacked former head of compliance in Luxembourg at HSBC's private bank, has said she was pointing out compliance failures as recently as 2013, something she says she was fired for. "HSBC signed up to a code of practice on taxation in 2010, committing the bank to ending the use of tax planning schemes and following the spirit as well as the letter of tax law," Cable wrote. LONDON British Business Secretary Vince Cable has written to HSBC questioning how quickly its Swiss private banking arm stopped practices which may have helped customers avoid tax, saying he's troubled by claims they "may have continued much more recently". | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 277 |
| RPT-UK minister questions when HSBC put tax scandal practices behind it | -20 | 2015-02-10 15:10:35+00 | Cable's intervention comes as HSBC Holdings Plc faces investigation by U.S. authorities and an inquiry by British lawmakers after admitting failings by its Swiss private bank that may have allowed some customers to avoid taxes. Cable told HSBC he was also concerned the allegations meant the bank may have flouted a taxation practice code which it signed up to in 2010. But Sue Shelley, the sacked former head of compliance in Luxembourg at HSBC's private bank, has said she was pointing out compliance failures as recently as 2013, something she says she was fired for. "HSBC signed up to a code of practice on taxation in 2010, committing the bank to ending the use of tax planning schemes and following the spirit as well as the letter of tax law," Cable wrote. The bank says its Swiss arm had undergone a "radical transformation" in recent year. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 278 |
| UPDATE 1-HSBC condemns past practices as pressure grows over Swiss accounts | -28 | 2015-02-10 15:51:44+00 | HSBC said past compliance measures and controls failed, but said its Swiss business had since been "transformed" and client accounts had been closed. Details that have emerged on the HSBC Swiss bank account holders were only "the tip of the iceberg," Falciani told French daily Le Parisien on Tuesday. Adding to HSBC's discomfort, British Business Secretary Vince Cable questioned how quickly its Swiss business stopped such practices, saying he was troubled by claims they "may have continued much more recently". Boyles told staff the bank had "absolutely no appetite" to do business with people who are evading taxes. HSBC has been in the spotlight after the media published allegations based on information supplied by Herve Falciani, a former employee of the bank. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 279 |
| UK ministers unaware of possible HSBC wrongdoing until 'last couple of days' | -14 | 2015-02-10 14:24:38+00 | LONDON Feb 10 British government ministers were unaware that HSBC may have been involved in wrongdoing in its Swiss banking arm until the "last couple of days", a spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday. "No government minister had any knowledge that HSBC may have been involved in wrongdoing in regard to its Swiss banking arm ... prior to the reports over the last couple of days," Cameron's spokeswoman told reporters. She said it was important to make a distinction between knowledge that individuals were potentially using the bank's Swiss arm to evade tax and allegations that HSBC itself as a corporate entity may have been involved in wrongdoing. HSBC Holdings Plc faces investigation by U.S. authorities and an inquiry by British lawmakers after admitting failings by its Swiss private bank that may have allowed some customers to dodge taxes. (Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Keith Weir) | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 281 |
| UPDATE 3-HSBC admits Swiss bank failings over client taxes | -47 | 2015-02-09 23:14:21+00 | HSBC's Swiss private bank was largely acquired as part of its purchase of Republic National Bank of New York and Safra Republic Holdings, a U.S. private bank. The HSBC client data were supplied by Herve Falciani, a former IT employee of HSBC's Swiss private bank, HSBC said. Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes. "Its private bank, especially its Swiss arm, had undergone "a radical transformation" in recent years, it said in a detailed four-page statement. French authorities have obtained data on thousands of the customers and shared them with tax authorities elsewhere, including Argentina. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 284 |
| HSBC admits Swiss bank failings over client taxes | -46 | 2015-02-09 23:17:34+00 | HSBC's Swiss private bank was largely acquired as part of its purchase of Republic National Bank of New York and Safra Republic Holdings, a U.S. private bank. The HSBC client data were supplied by Herve Falciani, a former IT employee of HSBC's Swiss private bank, HSBC said. Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes. "Its private bank, especially its Swiss arm, had undergone "a radical transformation" in recent years, it said in a detailed four-page statement. "We acknowledge and are accountable for past compliance and control failures," HSBC said late on Sunday after news outlets published the allegations about its Swiss private bank. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 285 |
| Argentina wants HSBC to repatriate $3.5 billion in offshore funds | -15 | 2015-03-09 18:29:31+00 | REUTERS/Enrique MarcarianBUENOS AIRES/LONDON Argentina wants HSBC Holdings Plc to repatriate $3.5 billion that it says the bank's Argentine branch moved offshore to help clients evade taxes and move capital abroad, the country's tax chief said on Monday. The South American country last November charged HSBC with helping more than 4,000 clients evade taxes by stashing their money in secret Swiss bank accounts. Europe's largest bank already faces probes in several countries into allegations it helped its clients evade taxes. HSBC Argentina rejected the charge, saying it respected Argentine law. "Secondly, we expect the repatriation of funds by HSBC Holdings PLC, that to our knowledge amount to 3.5 billion dollars. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 332 |
| UPDATE 2-China Feb HSBC PMI at 7-month high but more rate cuts seen on the cards | -26 | 2015-03-02 03:57:47+00 | We expect more policy easing via interest rate and reserve requirement cuts," said Zhou Hao, an economist at ANZ. "However, the renewed fall in new export orders suggests that foreign demand has weakened, while manufacturers continued to cut their staff numbers (albeit fractionally). But even as factory activity picked up slightly, the survey showed manufacturers struggled to cope with erratic export demand and deflationary pressures. On Monday, a survey showed the HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) climbed to 50.7 in February - the strongest level since July - from 49.7 in January, as overall new orders picked up. The new export orders sub-index dipped to 48.5 in February, the sharpest contraction in a year, while both input and output prices fell for a seventh month. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 305 |
| China February HSBC services PMI edges up | -10 | 2015-03-04 02:49:25+00 | Economists expect more reductions in interest rates and RRR over the coming quarters. Late on Saturday, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) cut interest rates, its third major easing since late November, as regulators show signs of intensifying concern over lackluster data since the fourth quarter and growing deflationary pressures. China's economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent in 2014 - the weakest in 24 years, from 7.7 percent in 2013, even as the job-creating services sector outperformed the factory sector. Accounting for 48 percent of China's $10.2 trillion economy last year, the services sector has weathered the growth downturn better than factories have, partly because it depends less on foreign demand. The PBOC had already cut interest rates in November and reduced the reserve requirement (RRR) - the ratio of cash that banks must set aside as reserves - earlier in February, the first such reduction in over two years. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 314 |
| UPDATE 1-China Feb HSBC services PMI edges up to 52.0 as orders improve | -9 | 2015-03-04 01:52:57+00 | Economists expect more reductions in interest rates and RRR over the coming quarters. A sub-index for new orders rose to 52.2 in February from 51.2 in January and the sub-index measuring new business also rose. China's economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent in 2014 - the weakest in 24 years, from 7.7 percent in 2013, even as the job-creating services sector outperformed the factory sector. Late on Saturday, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) cut interest rates, its third major easing since late November, as regulators show signs of intensifying concern over lacklustre data since the fourth quarter and growing deflationary pressures. The PBOC had already cut interest rates in November and reduced the reserve requirement (RRR) - the ratio of cash that banks must set aside as reserves - earlier in February, the first such reduction in over two years. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 315 |
| UPDATE 2-BoE to hold HSBC bosses' feet to the fire in bank's transformation | -12 | 2015-03-04 18:33:33+00 | Pressed by lawmakers on Wednesday to say who was ultimately responsible, Bailey replied: "Senior management can't and couldn't delegate responsibility. "I am going to hold their feet to the fire, noses to the grindstone," Bailey, who heads the BoE's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), told parliament's Treasury Select Committee. Randell said the PRA was in contact with other agencies about the Swiss tax allegations to make sure it was dealt with "expeditiously". It adds to a long list of banking scandals that have emerged since the financial crisis, including several at HSBC. Last week, HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint told a panel of lawmakers the bank was halfway through a transformation to make the bank simpler and to create central control. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 323 |
| BoE to hold HSBC bosses' 'feet to the fire' in bank's transformation | -11 | 2015-03-04 18:38:04+00 | "I am going to hold their feet to the fire, noses to the grindstone," Bailey, who heads the BoE's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), told parliament's Treasury Select Committee. Pressed by lawmakers on Wednesday to say who was ultimately responsible, Bailey replied: "Senior management can't and couldn't delegate responsibility. Randell said the PRA was in contact with other agencies about the Swiss tax allegations to make sure it was dealt with "expeditiously". Last week, HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint told a panel of lawmakers the bank was halfway through a transformation to make the bank simpler and to create central control. It adds to a long list of banking scandals that have emerged since the financial crisis, including several at HSBC. | HSBC | {"Huw Jones"} | 324 |
| UPDATE 2-I'm the right person to fix HSBC, says CEO Gulliver | -30 | 2015-03-09 19:11:57+00 | The Swiss tax scandal has added to a list of problems from the past that have hit HSBC in recent years. Fairhead said she was horrified at the allegations of tax avoidance. "This is tax avoidance on an industrial scale," said Margaret Hodge, chair of the Public Accounts Committee. The CEO's personal financial affairs have added further fuel to the row over whether the bank helped clients dodge taxes after Britain's Guardian newspaper said he had sheltered millions of pounds in HSBC's Swiss private bank via a Panamanian company. He said whether he remained as CEO was a matter for the board and shareholders. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 329 |
| I'm the right person to fix HSBC, says CEO Gulliver | -27 | 2015-03-09 19:18:04+00 | The Swiss tax scandal has added to a list of problems from the past that have hit HSBC in recent years. LONDON HSBC (HSBA.L) Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said he was the right person to run Europe's biggest bank and fix problems of the past after British lawmakers berated it for allowing "industrial-scale tax avoidance" at its Swiss arm. Fairhead said she was horrified at the allegations of tax avoidance. "This is tax avoidance on an industrial scale," said Margaret Hodge, chair of the Public Accounts Committee. "My inability to convince anyone that these arrangements were not put in place for reasons of tax evasion have caused reputational damage to the bank. | HSBC | {"Steve Slater"} | 330 |
| UPDATE 1-Argentina wants HSBC to repatriate $3.5 bln in offshore funds | -15 | 2015-03-09 18:19:11+00 | The South American country last November charged HSBC with helping more than 4,000 clients evade taxes by stashing theirmoney in secret Swiss bank accounts. Europe's largest bank already faces probes in several countries into allegations it helped its clients evade taxes. HSBC Argentina rejected the charge, saying it respected Argentine law. "If HSBC clients were forced this year to cough up taxes they evaded by moving their funds offshore, the windfall would come at an opportune moment for Argentina's cash-strapped government. "HSBC said in a statement it was cooperating with Argentine authorities in their probe. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 331 |
| U.S. Considers HSBC Charge That Could Upend 2012 Settlement | -90 | 2016-09-07 00:00:00 | As part of the 2012 agreement, HSBC paid $1.9 billion, a record penalty at the time, and pledged to cooperate with Justice Department probes for five years. Justice Department leaders have said that a deferred-prosecution pact should be overturned only after significant misconduct. A Justice Department spokesman, Peter Carr, declined to comment. Any decision on a criminal charge against the bank would eventually be discussed with prosecutors in those units, one of the people said. Last year, the Justice Department voided a similar pact with UBS Group AG after the bank acknowledged unlawful conduct on its foreign-exchange desk. | HSBC | {"Keri Geiger","Greg Farrell Keri Geiger","Greg Farrell"} | 900 |
| HSBC, JP Morgan and Crédit Agricole fined €485m by EU | -27 | 2016-12-07 00:00:00 | JP Morgan was fined €337m, HSBC €33m and Crédit Agricole €114m. A spokesperson for JP Morgan said: “We have cooperated fully with the European commission throughout its five-year investigation. “The traders’ aim was to distort the normal course of pricing components for euro interest rate derivatives. The three banks fined on Wednesday had not participated in the 2013 settlement and JP Morgan said it was considering a possible appeal to the European court. The three banks, which also included JP Morgan Chase and Crédit Agricole, did not agree to an earlier settlement involving a seven-bank cartel over the setting of the interest rate known as Euribor. | HSBC | {"Jill Treanor"} | 1073 |
| HSBC Sued Over Drug Cartel Murders After Laundering Probe | -26 | 2016-02-09 00:00:00 | Although other violent drug-trafficking organizations, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have been designated by the U.S. Government as terrorists, the Mexican drug cartels have so far avoided that official label. The Texas lawsuit seems to be the first that’s based on the legal theory that the Mexican cartels are terrorist organizations. HSBC said it would fight the claims in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Brownsville, Texas. Families of U.S. citizens murdered by drug gangs in Mexico sued HSBC Holdings Plc, claiming the bank can be held responsible for the deaths because it let cartels launder billions of dollars to operate their businesses. "The Mexican drug cartels are terrorists who routinely commit horrific acts of violence to intimidate, coerce, and control the civilian population and the government,” Richard Elias, a lawyer for the victims and their families, said in an e-mail. | HSBC | {"Greg Farrell"} | 403 |
| Families of Americans killed by Mexican cartels sue HSBC for laundering billions | -33 | 2016-02-11 00:00:00 | Four families of Americans killed by Mexican drug cartels are suing British banking giant HSBC for allegedly contributing to their deaths by allowing the gangs to launder billions of dollars. As a proximate result of HSBC’s material support to the Mexican drug cartels, numerous lives, including those of the Plaintiffs, have been destroyed”. The suit claims that HSBC “knowingly provided continuous and systematic material support to the cartels and their acts of terrorism by laundering billions of dollars for them. And that is exactly what happened,” the lawsuit alleges, claiming that due diligence processes at Mexican bank branches were non-existent or fabricated, allowing suspicious individuals to deposit hundreds of thousands or even millions of US dollars. However, unlike Hamas, the Mexican groups are not designated as terrorist organisations by the US State Department. | HSBC | {"Tom Dart"} | 404 |
| Clinton foundation received up to $81m from clients of controversial HSBC bank | -19 | 2015-02-10 00:00:00 | The charitable foundation run by Hillary Clinton and her family has received as much as $81m from wealthy international donors who were clients of HSBC’s controversial Swiss bank. It reveals seven foundation benefactors linked to HSBC bank accounts in Geneva, who have donated, in total, as much as $81m. Giustra’s Swiss HSBC account, created in 2002, contained up to $10m in the 2006-2007 period. Other HSBC Geneva clients who donated $1m or more to the Clinton foundation include ex-Formula One racing driver Michael Schumacher, billionaire businessman Eli Broad, and the French hedge-fund manager Arpad Busson. He is on the record as having donated $31.1m to the foundation in 2007 and, later that year, pledged a $100m commitment to tackling poverty in conjunction with the Clinton foundation. | HSBC | {"Paul Lewis","James Ball"} | 929 |
| HSBC's record $1.9bn fine preferable to prosecution, US authorities insist | -33 | 2012-12-11 00:00:00 | Despite the size of the fine, HSBC's shares on the London stock exchange rose by 2.8p to 644p. But he said: "HSBC's settlement with the US authorities will include a deferred prosecution agreement with the department of justice of five years' duration. Breuer was pressed on why the US authorities had agreed to a deferred prosecution deal for the bank. Ian Gordon, banks analyst at Investec, said the fine was slightly lower than the $2bn he had been pencilling in to his forecasts. The bank processed cash for Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, regarded as the most powerful and deadly drug gang in the world, among others. | HSBC | {"Jill Treanor","Dominic Rushe","Fidel Cano Correa"} | 406 |
| This chart shows how a 'no' vote in the Italian referendum could cause devastation | -11 | 2016-09-27 07:09:14+00 | This means that if there is a “no” vote, it could give more power to Eurosceptic parties and potentially disrupting Italy’s membership in the EU. However, if Italians vote “no” this could lead to three potential scenarios. NOW WATCH: Self-made millionaire reveals the biggest money mistake you might be makingFollow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn As HSBC points out in this chart, a “yes” vote will substantially reduce the power of the senate — Italy’s upper house — and large amounts of power will be taken away from Italy’s regions and centralised to Rome. Italy’s upcoming referendum, which has been cited as one of the biggest risks to Europe in 2016 alongside Brexit, could lead to a number of devastating consequences for the country and the rest of the European Union. | HSBC | {"Lianna Brinded"} | 519 |
| HSBC Sees No Good Outcome for Italy’s Bonds From Renzi Vote | -13 | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 | Italian bonds fell, pushing the yield spread over Spanish securities to the most since 2014. Italy’s 10-year securities fell, with the yield climbing four basis points to 1.22 percent as of 11:15 a.m. in London. “After a no vote, we would look for an elevated uncertainty premium to persist” in Italy’s bonds. Renzi’s CredibilityThe extra yield Italian securities offer compared with their Spanish counterparts has widened from virtually nil around mid-year as the bonds rose more slowly, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The spread is currently the biggest on an end-of-day basis since December 2014 and last reached 40 basis points, or 0.4 percentage point, about two months earlier. | HSBC | {"Marianna Duarte De Aragao"} | 520 |
| HSBC's Asia-Pacific Hiring Practices Being Probed by SEC | -10 | 2016-02-22 00:00:00 | Goldman Sachs Group Inc. disclosed in a May 2014 filing that its compliance with the FCPA was being scrutinized, including in its hiring practices. Global banks’ hiring practices have come under scrutiny after the U.S. opened an investigation in 2013 into whether JPMorgan Chase & Co. violated anti-bribery laws by employing children of China’s elite. HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, said it’s among financial institutions being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to their hiring practices in the Asia Pacific. The London-based lender had received “various requests for information” and is cooperating with the SEC, it said. Banks are being probed for giving jobs to candidates related to powerful Asian business leaders in order to generate business in the highly competitive industry for corporate dealmaking. | HSBC | {"Cathy Chan"} | 533 |
| U.S. to seek ex-HSBC executive's extradition from Britain | -15 | 2016-10-21 23:26:14+00 | NEW YORK The United States will seek the extradition from Britain of a former HSBC Holdings Plc executive accused of participating in a fraudulent scheme involving a $3.5 billion currency transaction, prosecutors said on Friday. In total, HSBC earned $3 million from trades its currency traders placed, and $5 million from executing the transaction, prosecutors said. The U.S. Justice Department has begun the process of preparing an extradition package for the State Department to submit to the United Kingdom, the letter said. The client was not named in court papers, but a source has said it was British oil firm Cairn Energy. The U.S. Justice Department has continued to investigate, and HSBC has set aside $1.2 billion to cover various forex-related matters. | HSBC | {"Nate Raymond"} | 619 |
| HSBC officials snared in currency-rigging probe | -33 | 2016-07-20 00:00:00 | He faces charges following a three-year investigation into currency trading practices at multiple global banks, according to the reports. Two senior bankers at HSBC have been arrested in connection with a case involving currency benchmark rigging, according to reports. Mark Johnson, the bank's global head of foreign-exchange cash trading, was arrested Tuesday at JFK International Airport, according to multiple reports. Authorities said HSBC made $8 million from the transaction. "The investigation into currency rigging has been ongoing for three years but has resulted in no individual arrests until this week. | HSBC | {"Simon Dawson","Jeff Cox","Bloomberg Getty Images"} | 621 |
| HSBC: The pound victim of 'FX vigilantes' and now 'de facto official opposition’ | -22 | 2016-10-07 00:00:00 | But the most depressing line is the one on "a political and structural currency. HSBC's chief FX strategist David Bloom says in a note circulated on Friday that the pound has now become a victim of "FX vigilantes" who are expressing their objection to government policy by selling off the pound. Bloom writes (emphasis ours):"We used to have the bond vigilantes. The pound has become a political football that currency traders are using to try and punish the government into softening proposed Brexit terms, according to HSBC. GBP used to be a relatively simple currency that used to trade on cyclical events and data, but now it has become a political and structural currency. | HSBC | {"Oscar Williams-grut"} | 751 |
| HSBC forecasts sterling at $1.10 by end 2017 on Brexit woes | -10 | 2016-10-07 08:29:55+00 | It is becoming clear that many European countries will come to the negotiation table looking for political damage limitation rather than economic damage limitation. LONDON HSBC said on Friday it forecast the pound to drop to $1.10 and parity against the euro by the end of 2017 as fears of a "hard" Brexit intensify. "The bank expects the currency to drop to $1.20 by the end of this year from around $1.2432 on Friday. "The pound used to be a relatively simple currency that used to trade on cyclical events and data, but now it has become a political and structural currency. "Brexit, whether one likes it or not, is a political decision, one we have to respect," David Bloom, global head of FX research said in a note. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 752 |
| China February flash HSBC PMI at four-month high | -11 | 2015-02-25 08:02:15+00 | Most analysts believe policy will be loosened further in coming months in the form of more rate cuts and reserve ratio reductions. "Domestic economic activity is likely to remain sluggish and external demand looks uncertain," said Qu Hongbin, HSBC's chief economist in China. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a reading of 49.5, little changed from January's final PMI of 49.7. The flash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) inched up to 50.1 in February, a whisker above the 50-point level that separates growth in activity from a contraction on a monthly basis. The Australian dollar and emerging Asian currencies extended early gains after the PMI report, though shares in China .CSI300 and Hong Kong .HSI remained slightly lower. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 169 |
| HSBC Bank Executives Face Charges in $3.5 Billion Currency Case | -42 | 2016-07-21 00:00:00 | Minutes after the call ended, Mr. Scott and Mr. Johnson began aggressively buying up pounds. It is unclear where Mr. Scott, who is 43 and also a British citizen, is currently located. Responding to the news, Mr. Johnson replied, “Ohhhh, Christmas,” using an expletive as an adjective. A lawyer for Mr. Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Johnson also gave his own personal recommendation along the same lines. | HSBC | {"Alexandra Stevenson"} | 863 |
| HSBC escaped US money-laundering charges after Osborne's intervention | -30 | 2016-07-11 00:00:00 | It said the department had enough evidence to pursue criminal charges against HSBC and pointed out that the bank had already admitted to the US government that it broke money laundering rules. The House financial services committee report said the UK interventions “played a significant role in ultimately persuading the DoJ [Department of Justice] not to prosecute HSBC”. HSBC, the justice department and the US treasury declined to comment on the report. HSBC also violated US sanctions by working with customers in Iran, Libya, Sudan, Burma and Cuba. “FSA has been on the phone for the criminal discussions,” officials wrote in emails released in the House report. | HSBC | {"Rupert Neate"} | 402 |
| HSBC Sued By Families Of US Citizens Killed By Mexican Drug Cartels After Money Laundering Probe | -22 | 2016-02-10 09:09:43+00 | HSBC reportedly said it would fight the claims in the lawsuit. It alleged that HSBC contributed directly to international drug and trafficking trade, and the “brutal acts” that accompanied it, Reuters reported. “HSBC was complicit in laundering billions of dollars for drug cartels and should be held accountable under the Anti-Terrorism Act for supporting their terrorism,” Elias added. HSBC Holdings PLC has been sued by families of American citizens killed in Mexico, who alleged that the bank helped drug cartels launder money to run their businesses and thus, can be held responsible for the deaths, reports said Tuesday. The bank paid a $1.9 billion fine in 2012 to settle a criminal probe into whether it laundered at least $881 million on behalf of drug cartels. | HSBC | {} | 405 |
| HSBC pays record $1.9bn fine to settle US money-laundering accusations | -28 | 2012-12-11 00:00:00 | "In Mexico the bank "severely understaffed" its compliance department and failed to implement an anti-money laundering programme despite evidence of serious risks. HSBC said it also expected to finalise an "undertaking" with the UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority, "shortly". HSBC has managed to avoid being criminally prosecuted – a move that could have stopped the bank operating in the US. HSBC's Mexican operations moved $7bn into the US operations, for instance, which the Senate was told was tied to drug money. Ian Gordon, banks analyst at Investec, said the fine was slightly lower than the $2bn he had been pencilling in to his forecasts. | HSBC | {"Jill Treanor","Dominic Rushe","Fidel Cano Correa"} | 606 |
| HSBC Executive Barred by Fed After Indictment Over Forex Fraud | -12 | 2016-10-06 00:00:00 | executive and a former employee have been barred from the banking industry by the Federal Reserve as they face U.S. criminal charges that they committed fraud in conducting foreign-exchange trades. The Fed’s move follows the August indictments of Mark Johnson, who was HSBC’s head of foreign exchange cash trading, and Stuart Scott, the bank’s former head of currency trading in Europe. When all the facts come out it will be clear that Mr. Johnson engaged in no wrongdoing.”Rob Sherman, a spokesman for HSBC, declined to comment. “This suspension is based solely on the existence of the indictment, which is entirely unfounded,” Frank H. Wohl, an attorney for Johnson at Lankler Siffert & Wohl, said in a statement. “Neither the Fed nor the OCC conducted any independent investigation of the transactions charged. | HSBC | {"Tom Schoenberg","Benjamin Bain Tom Schoenberg","Benjamin Bain"} | 620 |
| Banks must face U.S. gold rigging lawsuit; UBS is dismissed | -38 | 2016-10-05 00:00:00 | They did not estimate the size of the banks' gold portfolios, but said the gold derivatives market alone was as large as $650 billion during the class period. In the gold case, investors said Barclays, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ScotiaBank and Societe Generale conspired to manipulate prices of gold, gold futures and options, and gold derivatives through twice-a-day meetings to set the London Gold Fixing. In a separate case involving the silver market, Caproni said another group of investors may pursue market rigging claims against ScotiaBank and HSBC. The investors said this conspiracy let the banks suppress prices and reduce risk at other investors' expense. Both decisions dismissed UBS Group AG as a defendant, saying there was nothing showing it manipulated prices, even if it benefited from market distortions. | HSBC | {} | 663 |
| EU Fines J.P. Morgan, HSBC and Crédit Agricole $520 Million for Collusion | -7 | None | BRUSSELS—The European Union antitrust regulator said it slapped HSBC Holdings PLC, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Crédit Agricole SA with fines totaling of €485 million ($519.8 million) for colluding to manipulate a benchmark interest rate. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said Wednesday that the banks breached EU antitrust rules by exchanging sensitive information and colluding on euro interest-rate derivative... | HSBC | {"Natalia Drozdiak","Natalia Drozdiak Wsj Com"} | 1069 |
| Banks fined £413m over euro rate rigging | -15 | None | Image copyright Getty ImagesThe European Commission has fined three banks €485m (£413m) for rigging a key European benchmark rate. "In 2013 the European Commission fined eight banks €1.7bn for euro and yen interest rate-rigging. It said the banks were part of a cartel relating to products used to manage the uncertainty of interest rate movements. The Euribor rate is used to calculate the value of many financial products worth billions of euros. "We have cooperated fully with the European Commission throughout its five year investigation," she said. | HSBC | {} | 1084 |
| FBI arrests senior HSBC banker accused of rigging multibillion-dollar deal | -66 | 2016-07-20 00:00:00 | A senior HSBC banker has been arrested by the FBI as he attempted to board a transatlantic flight and charged him with fraudulently rigging a multibillion-dollar currency exchange deal. “The defendants allegedly betrayed their client’s confidence, and corruptly manipulated the foreign exchange market to benefit themselves and their bank,” said the US assistant attorney general Leslie Caldwell. Mark Johnson, a British citizen and HSBC’s global head of foreign exchange trading, and a colleague are accused of “defrauding clients” and alleged to have “corruptly manipulated the foreign exchange market to benefit themselves and their bank”. HSBC escaped US money-laundering charges after Osborne's intervention Read moreA second Briton, Stuart Scott, who was HSBC’s European head of foreign exchange trading in London until December 2014, is accused of the same crimes. The House financial services committee report said the UK interventions “played a significant role in ultimately persuading the DoJ [Department of Justice] not to prosecute HSBC”. | HSBC | {"Jill Treanor","Rupert Neate"} | 29 |
| A Bank Too Big to Jail | -38 | 2016-07-17 00:00:00 | Quoting from internal Treasury records, the report said that once the Justice Department decided not to prosecute HSBC, its officials began softening the deal offered to the bank. But officials in charge of analyzing those violations were still awaiting additional information from the bank when this figure was submitted. The Justice Department called for HSBC to pay $375 million to settle the sanctions violations. But Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who heads the House Financial Services Committee, doesn’t buy it. David A. Skeel, a professor of corporate law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, said he was struck by this change. | HSBC | {"Fair Game","Gretchen Morgenson"} | 32 |
| Top US officials rejected push to prosecute HSBC | -13 | 2016-07-12 00:00:00 | A congressional report reveals that top US officials rejected an internal recommendations to prosecute the global bank. Senior U.S. Department of Justice officials overruled internal recommendations to prosecute global bank HSBC for money-laundering violations because of concerns about the stability of the financial system, according to a congressional report released on Monday. Holder and other top officials decided against criminal charges for London-based HSBC over the recommendations of prosecutors because they had concerns about financial stability, the report said. Politicians and others have criticized the Justice Department for not sufficiently cracking down on big banks following the 2008 financial crisis. The report said it sought to shed light on the department's decision-making and did not outline specific recommendations. | HSBC | {"Getty Images","Reuters With Cnbc"} | 33 |
| Global collaboration needed on 'bad actor' rules, says HSBC legal chief | -26 | 2016-09-26 00:00:00 | It is neither as efficient nor effective as it could be at protecting the financial system from abuse and preventing financial crime. A former official at the US Treasury, Levey told a conference in Geneva: “Put simply, the way we do financial crime compliance is outdated. On one hand there is a deepened policy and political commitment to combat financial crime and preserve the integrity of the financial system. Levey said rules to combat financial crime had unintended consequences such as banks “de-risking” – pulling out of countries or business sectors. More needs to be done to combat financial crime, a senior lawyer at HSBC has said as he called for global collaboration over the rules imposed on banks to keep “bad actors” out of the financial system. | HSBC | {"Jill Treanor"} | 134 |
| HSBC bosses reject calls to quit after 'terrible list' of problems | -43 | 2015-02-25 19:55:17+00 | "It's a terrible list," Flint said when a UK member of parliament read out the recent fines and investigations. Britain's financial watchdog is looking at standards at the Swiss bank, but no UK authority has announced any criminal probe. REUTERS/UK Parliament via REUTERS TVLONDON HSBC (HSBA.L) bosses rejected calls from British lawmakers for them to quit over the bank's Swiss tax scandal, but said they were having to clean up after a "terrible list" of control and compliance failings. One UK individual has been prosecuted and HMRC has reclaimed 135 million pounds ($209.34 million) from names on the HSBC list, including 15 million pounds in penalties. It adds to a long list of banking scandals that have emerged since the financial crisis, including several at HSBC. | HSBC | {"Steve Slater","Huw Jones"} | 166 |
| India tax officials search HSBC's Mumbai HQ amid Swiss allegations -source | -18 | 2015-02-24 11:14:13+00 | Its pursuit of Europe's biggest bank comes after details of HSBC's Swiss private banking operations and top clients were widely published in the media, sparking regulatory inquiries worldwide that could result in significant fines. The search came as HSBC prepared to release its annual report on Monday, in which the bank said it had received a request for information from Indian tax authorities. India, Asia's third-largest economy, is the only Asian nation to aggressively investigate HSBC relating to allegations of helping customers pay less tax. MUMBAI Feb 24 Indian tax officials searched the Mumbai headquarters of HSBC Holdings PLC last week as part of a probe related to allegations that the bank's Swiss business helped clients dodge taxes, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. On Monday, HSBC's chief executive said allegations about its Geneva-based private banking arm, raided last week by Swiss officials and now the subject of a British inquiry, had damaged HSBC's image and brought "shame" on the bank. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 172 |
| UPDATE 3-HSBC says Swiss scandal has brought shame on bank | -24 | 2015-02-23 13:08:18+00 | HSBC confirmed that Gulliver has a Swiss bank account and while there is no suggestion he broke any rules, the revelations come at a sensitive time. Gulliver was himself thrust into the centre of the scandal on Sunday when Britain's Guardian newspaper said he had sheltered millions of pounds in HSBC's Swiss private bank via a Panamanian company. Gulliver is among the highest paid bank executives in Europe with a pay packet last year amounting to 7.6 million pounds ($11.7 million). Gulliver said the bank needed to improve profitability in Latin America, Turkey and the United States, and in areas of its commercial and investment bank. "A number of us, myself included, think the practices of the private bank back in the past are a source of shame and reputational damage to HSBC. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 178 |
| Factbox: Comments from HSBC bosses on Swiss bank, returns | -11 | 2015-02-23 13:54:45+00 | This makes people embarrassed of HSBC, concerned about HSBC, and the acts of a handful of people damage the firm and damage its reputation. You can see the validity of the business on the revenue side, even if the cost of running (a big bank) has clearly gone up. I think shame would be a reasonable noun to use. FAILINGS IN SWISS BANKGULLIVER:"A number of us, myself included, think the practices of the private bank back in the past are a source of shame and reputational damage to HSBC. The following are comments by HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver and Chairman Douglas Flint on a call with reporters on a range of topics that have hurt Europe's biggest bank in the last two weeks, including its Swiss bank failings, Gulliver's tax affairs and relations with British newspapers. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 179 |
| HSBC Swiss tax scrutiny set to overshadow $21 bln profit | -21 | 2015-02-20 18:10:52+00 | HSBC's shares have fallen 2 percent since the Swiss tax allegations were widely reported, lagging a 4 percent rise by the European bank index in that period. Yet allegations that HSBC's Swiss private bank helped clients dodge taxes will cast a shadow over its anniversary plans in the first week of March and over its annual results this Monday. The biggest concern for HSBC could be that U.S. authorities may look at re-opening a 2012 deferred prosecution agreement. Gulliver will be paid about 7.4 million pounds ($11 million) for 2014, Sky News reported on Friday. Losses from bad loans are predicted to fall by $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion, but that will be offset by a 23 percent drop in revenues in its global banking and markets division to $7.2 billion, analysts reckon. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 246 |
| HSBC Swiss tax scrutiny set to overshadow $21 billion profit | -20 | 2015-02-20 18:18:13+00 | Losses from bad loans are predicted to fall by $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion, but that will be offset by a 23 percent drop in revenues in its global banking and markets division to $7.2 billion, analysts reckon. Yet allegations that HSBC's Swiss private bank helped clients dodge taxes will cast a shadow over its anniversary plans in the first week of March and over its annual results this Monday. A HSBC logo is pictured behind the flag of the canton of Geneva at a Swiss branch of the bank in Geneva February 18, 2015. HSBC's shares have fallen 2 percent since the Swiss tax allegations were widely reported, lagging a 4 percent rise by the European bank index in that period. The biggest concern for HSBC could be that U.S. authorities may look at re-opening a 2012 deferred prosecution agreement. | HSBC | {"Steve Slater"} | 247 |
| Switzerland flexes parliamentary muscle as scrutiny of HSBC intensifies | -25 | 2015-02-19 16:28:03+00 | Any individuals targeted by the criminal inquiry could face up to five years in prison and a fine if found guilty, according to the law on aggravated money laundering. The move is an unusual show of parliamentary influence over Swiss financial regulator FINMA, which said that it had taken note of the committee's decision and would make itself available for inquiries. The regulator said it had ordered remedial measures, which HSBC implemented, though FINMA gave no further detail. FINMA had first investigated HSBC as long as four years ago, when it criticised the bank's internal controls, and it said on Thursday that two previously unpublicised investigations had found that HSBC violated money laundering guidelines. ($1 = 0.9473 Swiss francs) (Additional reporting by Albert Schmieder and Maria Sheahan in Zurich and Tom Miles in Geneva; Editing by David Goodman) | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 248 |
| Swiss prosecutor raids HSBC office, opens criminal inquiry | -35 | 2015-02-18 19:50:05+00 | REUTERS/Denis BalibouseGENEVA Geneva's public prosecutor searched HSBC's (HSBA.L) lakeside Swiss office on Wednesday after opening a criminal inquiry into allegations of aggravated money laundering, the second probe to hit the bank this week. Falciani's files have been passed by the French tax authorities to their foreign counterparts around the world. A HSBC logo is pictured at a Swiss branch of the bank in Geneva February 18, 2015. The tax authorities in Belgium, Austria and Argentina are also looking at the allegations. In an unusual move, the Geneva prosecutor's office notified the media of the raid as it was going on. | HSBC | {"Marina Depetris"} | 250 |
| UPDATE 2-UK financial watchdog investigates HSBC over tax claims | -25 | 2015-02-16 17:53:53+00 | The FCA spokesman declined to say if the agency would investigate the allegations that staff from HSBC Private Banking (Suisse) operated in Britain. Last year, the SEC forced Swiss bank Credit Suisse to admit wrongdoing and pay $196 million in relation to tax evasion involving U.S. clients. Gary Greenwood, analyst at Shore Capital Stockbrokers, said the focus on current behaviour was positive for HSBC if, as the bank said, it had cleaned up the problems at its Swiss private bank. Parliament's Treasury Select Committee are also taking an interest and will grill HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint and CEO Stuart Gulliver on Feb. 25. Britain's Serious Fraud Office said on Thursday it was open to discussing the allegations with British tax authority HMRC. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 253 |
| UK financial watchdog investigates HSBC over tax claims | -26 | 2015-02-16 17:58:54+00 | The HSBC bank logo is pictured at a branch office at the Paradeplatz in Zurich February 10, 2015. The FCA spokesman declined to say if the agency would investigate the allegations that staff from HSBC Private Banking (Suisse) operated in Britain. Last year, the SEC forced Swiss bank Credit Suisse to admit wrongdoing and pay $196 million in relation to tax evasion involving U.S. clients. Gary Greenwood, analyst at Shore Capital Stockbrokers, said the focus on current behavior was positive for HSBC if, as the bank said, it had cleaned up the problems at its Swiss private bank. REUTERS/Arnd WiegmannLONDON Britain's financial watchdog said it was investigating HSBC following reports it helped clients evade taxes but said it was focusing on the bank's current behavior rather than alleged past abuses. | HSBC | {"Tom Bergin","Huw Jones"} | 254 |
| UPDATE 1-Bank of England may look into HSBC tax case | -11 | 2015-02-13 10:25:58+00 | (Adds FCA, background)LONDON Feb 13 The Bank of England may look into allegations that Europe's biggest bank HSBC helped clients to avoid paying tax, a top BoE official said on Friday. Another regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for making sure bank employees behave properly. Britain's Serious Fraud Office said on Thursday it was open to discussing the allegations with British tax authority, HMRC. "The allegations around HSBC raise serious issues around HSBC's conduct," Jon Cunliffe, the BoE's deputy governor for financial stability, told BBC radio. The Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority authorises and supervises HSBC for safety and soundness, making sure it holds enough capital. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 260 |
| UPDATE 2-UK lawmakers to haul up HSBC, tax chiefs over Swiss bank allegations | -31 | 2015-02-12 17:41:54+00 | "The (Treasury) Committee is concerned about allegations involving HSBC and its Swiss private bank," said committee chairman Andrew Tyrie. HMRC's Homer told lawmakers that media allegations about HSBC clients did not prove wrongdoing on the part of the bank. Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes. Several countries have said they are investigating the list of HSBC clients for possible tax evasion, although not all had access to the data. HSBC this week admitted failings in compliance and controls in its Swiss private bank after media reports alleged it helped wealthy customers conceal millions of dollars of assets in a period up to 2007. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 262 |
| Fitch: HSBC Tax Scrutiny Flags Tail Risks for Conduct Failings | -20 | 2015-02-12 15:09:38+00 | But we believe conduct risks cannot be fully averted for such a large and diversified group. This is incorporated into our assessment of the operating environment and the risks HSBC's business model exposes it to. HSBC's management has improved its control framework, which should help adherence with compliance requirements and protect its reputation. HSBC's Swiss private bank is one of around a dozen Swiss wealth-management firms into which the DoJ and other US authorities started investigations in 2013 regarding alleged client tax evasion. All opinions expressed are those of Fitch Ratings. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 267 |
| UK may follow U.S. lead if pursues HSBC over tax | -32 | 2015-02-11 18:30:15+00 | There is no record on the FCA register of HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA. London-based HSBC admitted failings in compliance and controls at HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA on Sunday after allegations in news outlets that it helped international clients hide money. HIGH HURDLEWhile establishing jurisdiction over HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA could allow UK authorities to pursue HSBC, they would still face a tougher challenge than U.S. peers in bringing a case against the bank rather than individuals. LONDON Feb 11 British authorities may follow a trail set by their U.S. counterparts in investigating allegations that HSBC's Swiss private bank helped its customers dodge taxes, lawyers say. A BBC report on Monday alleged that staff from HSBC's Swiss private bank travelled to the UK on at least two occasions to advise clients on how to evade paying taxes. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 269 |
| El Salvador to launch investigation into Swiss HSBC accounts | -7 | 2015-02-11 21:57:30+00 | "We have ordered the Financial Investigations Unit to carry out the investigations," he said, without giving details. SAN SALVADOR Feb 11 El Salvador's attorney general on Wednesday said his office has launched an investigation to determine whether 54 Salvadorans were involved in opening 54 secret accounts with HSBC in Switzerland. The accounts under investigation were opened between 1988 and 2006 and worth a total of $88.2 million, said Luis Martinez, the country's attorney general. HSBC faces an investigation by U.S. authorities and an inquiry by British lawmakers after admitting failings by its Swiss private bank that may have allowed some customers to dodge taxes. (Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Editing by Diane Craft) | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 274 |
| HSBC condemns past practices as pressure grows over Swiss accounts | -29 | 2015-02-10 17:20:31+00 | HSBC said past compliance measures and controls failed, but said its Swiss business had since been "transformed" and client accounts had been closed. Details that have emerged on the HSBC Swiss bank account holders were only "the tip of the iceberg," Falciani told French daily Le Parisien on Tuesday. Adding to HSBC's discomfort, British Business Secretary Vince Cable questioned how quickly its Swiss business stopped such practices, saying he was troubled by claims they "may have continued much more recently". LONDON The head of HSBC's (HSBA.L) private bank has told staff past practices that may have allowed some clients to dodge taxes are unacceptable, with the company facing pressure on both sides of the Atlantic over its conduct. HSBC has been in the spotlight after the media published allegations based on information supplied by Herve Falciani, a former employee of the bank. | HSBC | {"Steve Slater"} | 280 |
| China February HSBC PMI at seven-month high | -24 | 2015-03-02 08:54:50+00 | "However, the renewed fall in new export orders suggests that foreign demand has weakened, while manufacturers continued to cut their staff numbers (albeit fractionally). We expect more policy easing via interest rate and reserve requirement cuts," said Zhou Hao, an economist at ANZ. On Monday, a survey showed the HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) climbed to 50.7 in February - the strongest level since July - from 49.7 in January, as overall new orders picked up. But even as factory activity picked up slightly, the survey showed manufacturers struggled to cope with erratic export demand and deflationary pressures. The People's Bank of China cut interest rates on Saturday, in the latest effort to support the economy as its momentum slows. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 306 |
| Swiss party criticises prosecutor, regulator over handling of HSBC | -29 | 2015-03-03 17:39:20+00 | A spokeswoman for the attorney general said it had not yet received indication of a crime that would require federal, as opposed to cantonal, prosecution. HSBC has admitted failings in compliance and controls in its Swiss private bank after media allegations that it may have enabled clients to conceal millions of dollars of assets. ZURICH, March 3 Switzerland's Social Democratic Party wants a parliamentary debate about a scandal surrounding HSBC's Swiss bank and has accused the country's financial regulator and attorney general of doing too little to pursue criminals using offshore accounts. Geneva's public prosecutor searched HSBC's lakeside Swiss office nearly two weeks ago as part of a criminal inquiry into allegations of aggravated money laundering. The Social Democratic Party on Tuesday accused Switzerland's attorney general of looking the other way on alleged wrongdoing at HSBC, and said that financial watchdog FINMA did not have the necessary resources to pursue alleged criminal schemes. | HSBC | {"Reuters Editorial"} | 316 |