Oct 19, 2017

UK banks 'exposed to money laundering in South Africa'

The UK Chancellor has asked financial regulators and the Serious Fraud Office to review whether banks HSBC and Standard Chartered are linked to a corruption scandal in South Africa. Lord Peter Hain has raised concerns the banks may "Inadvertently have been conduits" for laundered money. A Treasury spokesman said: "We take allegations of financial misconduct very seriously, and have passed Lord Hain's letter on to the Financial Conduct Authority and relevant UK law enforcement agencies, including the National Crime Agency and Serious Fraud Office, to agree the right action," a spokesperson said. The BBC's correspondent in Johannesburg, Andrew Harding, said Lord Hain's letter was "a new twist in a giant corruption scandal that is shaking the South Africa state, and damaging the reputations of a number of global companies". Lord Hain, a leading anti-apartheid campaigner who grew up in South Africa, urged UK authorities "To track that stolen money down and make sure that British financial institutions help return it to South African taxpayers".

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