HSBC's Swiss private banking unit settles with US
SEC extracts US$12.5m penalty from the bank, which like Credit Suisse acknowledged wrongdoing
New York
THE United States' crackdown on Swiss bank secrecy gained steam on Tuesday, as HSBC's private banking unit in Switzerland settled an investigation into how it had solicited US clients.
Taking aim at the covert nature of Swiss banking, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused HSBC's Swiss unit of violating a cardinal rule of the financial industry: The unit failed to register with the SEC before providing advice to US clients, an omission that allowed it to avoid scrutiny in Washington.
