HSBC has been fined £57.4m by the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority for “serious failings” over customer deposit protection – the second-highest penalty ever imposed by the financial watchdog.
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said HSBC failed “over many years” to properly put in place the requirements to protect customer deposits dating back to 2015.
The regulator said that among its failings, HSBC incorrectly marked 99% of eligible beneficiary deposits as being “ineligible” for protection under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
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Sam Woods, the Bank’s deputy governor for prudential regulation and chief executive of the PRA, said: “The serious failings in this case go to the heart of the PRA’s safety and soundness objective.
“It is vital that all banks comply fully with our requirements around preparedness for resolution.”
He added the bank “fell far short of its obligations in this area, and failed to disclose its failings to us in a timely manner”.