HSBC to pay US$75 million in penalties to settle US CFTC charges

UNITS of HSBC Holdings have agreed to pay US$75 million to settle US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charges related to manipulative and deceptive trading and record-keeping failures, the regulator on Friday (May 12).

HSBC Bank USA agreed to pay a US$45 million civil penalty for manipulative and deceptive trading in connection with swaps, spoofing and record-keeping failures, CFTC said in a statement.

HSBCA Bank USA, HSBC Bank and HSBC Securities admitted to charges related to record-keeping and supervision failures and agreed to pay US$30 million to settle them, the regulator said in a separate statement.

HSBC did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Regulators found HSBC traders engaged in manipulative and deceptive trading in interest rate swaps and other financial products on a number of occasions from March 2012 to July 2020, the CFTC said. The firm did not admit or deny those allegations.

HSBC also failed to stop employees, including senior staff and compliance personnel, from discussing work via personal text and WhatsApp, CFTC said. The US Securities and Exchange Commission slapped HSBC with a penalty for related charges on Thursday. REUTERS