HSBC to pay $100m in currency rigging settlement

Hsbc

HSBC has agreed to pay just over $100m (£72m) in penalties to settle a US Department of Justice probe into currency rigging.

The payment comprises of $38.4m in restitution and a $63.1m fine, with the latter reflecting a 15pc reduction “in recognition of HSBC’s cooperation during the investigation and its extensive remediation”, reports The Telegraph.

HSBC said it had entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), under which it would cooperate fully with regulatory and domestic and foreign law enforcement authorities in any investigations against itself or current and former employees.

The London-listed bank said it would also take “additional steps” to bolster its compliance programme and internal controls.

The DPA, which was filed in the US today and which still needs to be approved by a judge, means HSBC would be able to avoid criminal charges as long as it fully complies with the agreement.

However, it comes just weeks after HSBC was released from an earlier five-year DPA, for lapses in anti-money laundering controls in relation to Mexican drug cartels, for which it paid a $1.9bn fine.

HSBC said the conduct which led the Department of Justice to issue this second DPA took place between 2010 and 2011 and, according to the document, relates to its handling of a client order by Cairn Energy and financial services it provided to another unnamed company.