HSBC has been hit with £57.4million in fines for failures to protect bank depositors with the failings dating back to 2015.
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) at the Bank of England has slapped the banking giant with £57,417,500 in fines over the historic failings.
The group fell short of implementing requirements set out in the Depositor Protection Rules for “many years”, the central bank said.
Failures included not identifying deposits eligible for compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
Sam Woods, deputy governor for Prudential Regulation and Chief Executive Officer of the PRA, said: “The serious failings in this case go to the heart of the PRA’s safety and soundness objective.
“It is vital that all banks comply fully with our requirements around preparedness for resolution. HBEU fell far short of its obligations in this area, and failed to disclose its failings to us in a timely manner. These failures led to today’s action, including the significant fine.”
HSBC Bank plc (HBEU) was found to have incorrectly marked accounts as “eligible” for FSCS protection – and then failed to cooperate properly with the PRA over a 15-month period about the issue.
Failings included:
- The failure to assign clear ownership for the processes required under the Depositor Protection Rules
- The failure to ensure that a senior manager, under the senior managers and certification regime, was allocated responsibility for these processes and the integrity of the information required under the Depositor Protection Rules.
More to follow…
