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Reports: $1.9 Billion Settlement Expected In HSBC Money-Laundering Case

The $1.9 billion settlement from British banking firm HSBC will settle allegations of allowing money laundering and transfers of billions from Iran.
Timur Emek
The $1.9 billion settlement from British banking firm HSBC will settle allegations of allowing money laundering and transfers of billions from Iran.

Jim Zarroli on 'Morning Edition'

TheWall Street Journal and The New York Times are reporting that federal and state authorities will announce a record $1.9 billion settlement with British banking firm HSBC on Tuesday.

The deal will settle allegations that HSBC ignored red flags of massive money laundering by Mexican drug cartels and allowed transfers of billions of dollars from nations like Iran, which are under U.S. sanctions.

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Along with forfeiting $1.3 billion, according to TheWall Street Journal, the bank will also pay a civil fine of $650 million. The settlement will also resolve other investigations by the Justice Department, the Treasury Department and other federal agencies.

According to the news reports, as part of the deal the bank will also admit to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act.

Back in July, HSBC's head of group compliance, David Bagley, resigned in the middle of a Senate hearing looking into the case.

On Monday, federal authorities also announced that another British bank, Standard Chartered, agreed to a settlement of $327 million over allegations it had funneled money for Iranian and Sudanese clients through American subsidiaries.

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