HSBC targeted in the Swiss sin linked to the Ex-Lebanon Central Banker | Company Business News

(Bloomberg) -HSBC Holdings PLC’s Swiss Private Bank is the focus of a Swiss investigation into suspected money laundering related to the alleged eclipse of hundreds of millions of dollars by the former head of the Central Bank of Lebanon. Swiss federal prosecutors opened the investigation in January in HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA, an unnamed individual and four other “unknown persons” with regard to the case, it states in a statement on Wednesday. This refused to comment further as the investigation continued. Since 2020, the Swiss prosecutors have been investigating the case around Riad Salameh, the former governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, who was charged with public funds last year by Lebanese prosecutors, forgery, illegal enrichment and money laundering. Salameh was head of the Central Bank of Lebanon for three decades before retiring. He was approved by the US and the United Kingdom, with the US Treasury accusing him of abusing his position of power to enrich himself and his co -workers. Salameh repeatedly denied the allegations against him, saying that his fortune was collected in finance during his previous career. Earlier Wednesday, the British bank said it was being investigated by Swiss and French law enforcement agencies on its involvement in alleged money laundering. The investigations are at an early stage and the authorities are investigating potential offenses related to what the bank said ‘two historic banking relations’, according to a statement. HSBC warned that the possible impact on the firm could be significant, although it was ‘not feasible’ to predict what it could be. Switzerland financial regulator announced last year that it found that the Private Bank of HSBC has failed to perform adequate checks on high-risk accounts owned by politically exposed people. Finma said at the time that it found serious violations of the law related to a total of more than $ 300 million transactions carried out between 2002 and 2015. HSBC has been ordered to review its anti-money laundry systems and of all the high-risk business relations and relationships with politically-exposed clients. The bank was also told that he could no longer adopt politically exposed persons as clients until the work was completed. More stories like these are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg LP