HSBC Agrees to Pay $1.9 Billion To Resolve Money Laundering Case

NEW YORK—The London-based HSBC Group and HSBC Bank USA have agreed to pay $1.9 billion and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) to resolve charges of money laundering and doing business with countries subject to U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department and banking regulators announced Dec. 11 (United States v. HSBC).

Charged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York with helping narcotics traffickers and others to launder their criminal proceeds and illegally handling transactions for customers in Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan, and Burma, HSBC has agreed to forfeit $1.256 billion and pay $665 ...