匯豐撥出7億美元支付美國罰單
HSBC has admitted the bank's failure to prevent money laundering in Mexico and the US was "shameful, embarrassing and very painful", as it took a $700m charge to cover the cost of US regulatory fines.
匯豐(HSBC)承認，該行未能阻止墨西哥和美國的洗錢活動是"令人羞愧和難堪，同時也是十分痛苦的"。該行已在賬目上計入一筆7億美元的支出，用以支付美國監管部門開出的罰單。The affair, compounded by $1.3bn of charges related to compensating customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance and derivatives products in the UK, helped push underlying profits at Britain's biggest bank down 3 per cent in the first six months of the year.
此外，匯豐計入13億美元的支出，用以賠償在誤導之下購買了支付還款保障保險(PPI)和衍生品的英國顧客。受這兩項支出影響，這家英國最大銀行今年上半年的基礎利潤被推低3%。Stuart Gulliver, chief executive, reiterated an earlier apology. "The firm clearly lost its way," he said. "But we have changed. It is a priority for senior management to build on steps already taken to manage risk and ensure compliance more effectively." The scandals, which undermined healthy performance in much of HSBC's operations, particularly in its Asian heartland, come as Britain's banks face political criticism and a regulatory crackdown. They are also feeding concern about London's reputation as a financial centre.
匯豐首席執行官歐智華(Stuart Gulliver)再次致歉。他說："公司顯然迷失了方向。但我們已做出了整改。對高級管理層來說，當前的首要任務是在已經採取的舉措的基礎上繼續努力，以更加有效地管理風險和確保合規。"這些醜聞拖累了匯豐相當大部分業務（尤其是在該行亞洲腹地的業務）的健康表現。當前英國各銀行面臨政治上的批評以及監管部門加大監管力度。這些醜聞還加劇了人們對倫敦作爲金融中心的名聲的擔憂。
On Friday Barclays revealed that it was the subject of another regulatory probe, this time into the disclosure of fee payments relating to its 2008 capital raisings. This came only weeks after its £290m settlement, relating to its involvement in the Libor borrowing rate scandal, triggered the resignation of the bank's top three directors, including chief executive Bob Diamond. Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, said last week that the period had been reputationally "very bad" for Britain's banks, presenting a "huge challenge" if trust was to be rebuilt.
巴克萊銀行(Barclays)上週五表示，該行正在接受監管部門的另一項調查，此次的調查對象是涉及2008年融資活動的收費披露情況。就在幾周前，巴克萊因捲入倫敦銀行間同業拆借利率(Libor)操縱醜聞而支付2.9億英鎊和解費用，並促使該行三名高級董事辭職，其中包括首席執行官鮑勃•戴蒙德(Bob Diamond)。英國金融服務管理局(FSA)主席特納勳爵(Lord Turner)上週表示，這段時期對英國各銀行的口碑造成了"極壞的"影響，給重建信任帶來一個"巨大的挑戰"。
