London, Jan 30, 2024 – A regulatory arm of the Bank of England said Tuesday it had fined HSBC for “serious failings” linked to customer deposits, handing the major lender a penalty of 57.4 million ($73 million).
The BoE’s Prudential Regulation Authority said in a statement that HSBC had for seven years through to 2022 failed to correctly identify customer deposits eligible for protection under the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Under the depositor protection rules, banks must put in place systems and controls to ensure vital information is logged correctly, which the compensation scheme relies on to make payments to savers should a company collapse.
“It is vital that all banks comply fully with our requirements”, noted PRA chief executive Sam Woods.
“The serious failings in this case go to the heart of the PRA’s safety and soundness objective,” he added in the statement.
HSBC said it welcomed that the matter had been resolved.
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