Bank to employ head of US trafficking inquiry

HSBC has promoted a former US official who headed sanctions action against drugs traffickers and money launderers to be its head of financial crime compliance, a new role.

Europe’s biggest bank, expected to be fined £1.1bn this week as part of a settlement with US agencies over money-laundering lapses, named Bob Werner as head of group financial crime compliance and group money laundering reporting officer.

HSBC also said it was separating financial crime compliance from other areas of compliance, and will set up a financial intelligence unit to carry out in-house investigations into potential regulatory breaches.

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In July, a US Senate report criticised HSBC for letting clients shift potentially illicit funds from the Cayman Islands, Iran, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Last month, HSBC set aside £933m to cover the potential fine.

Chief executive Stuart Gulliver said the issue had been shameful and embarrassing and caused “considerable reputational damage”.

The US fine relates to breaches of anti-money laundering controls in Mexico and other violations, sources said.

Mr Werner will be responsible for strategy, standards and systems in anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, proliferation funding, anti-bribery and sanctions. He joined HSBC in August and was previously head of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.