HSBC Holdings PLC's (LSE:HSBA) latest set of numbers were the usual statistician's delight but away from NII, CET1 and ROCE lies a murky world where the only winners appear to be the lawyers.
Because in courtrooms around the globe the Asia-focused bank is defending itself in cases as diverse as film finance and anti-terrorism.
Tucked away in Note 28 of the annual report and accounts was a provision of US$409mln for legal proceedings and regulatory matters which were included in total provisions of US$1.96bn made by the bank.
Most of the litigations outlined by HSBC are not quantified but the bank did stress it considers none of these matters “material” and believes appropriate provisions have been made.
So what and who exactly are involved?
One piece of litigation that is quantified is an estimate of US$600mln of possible damages in relation to American fraudster and financier, Bernie Madoff, who was the mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about US$64.8bn.
Various HSBC companies have been named as defendants in lawsuits arising out of Madoff Securities' fraud. Litigation is pending in the US, UK, Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.
HSBC also faces a number of lawsuits in the US on behalf of plaintiffs who are, or are related to, victims of terrorist attacks in the Middle East. In each case, it is alleged that HSBC violated the US Anti-Terrorism Act.
Not quite Hollywood but the lender is also defending itself against actions in the film finance arena relating to the development of Eclipse film finance schemes although an action relating to its role in the Zeus film finance schemes has been discontinued.
Currency transactions have caught the attention of the legal eagles. The FTSE 100-listed lender faces action on alleged anti-competitive practices in connection with the pricing of euro interest rate derivatives, the setting of US dollar Libor rates, the Singapore interbank offered rate and Singapore swap offer.
Other investigations around the globe include a probe by Brazil's Administrative Council of Economic Defence into the onshore foreign exchange market, alleged anti-competitive behaviour in South Africa and the manipulation of forex markets in the US.
My learned friend has also taken to the world of precious metals.
A number of class actions have been filed in Ontario and Quebec against HSBC alleging the manipulation of the price of gold and gold derivatives while numerous actions have been filed in New York alleging the manipulation of the price of silver and silver derivatives.
Further actions in New York relate to alleged manipulation of platinum and palladium prices.
There are also a raft of regulatory investigations, reviews and litigation are also listed including tax fraud probes in Argentina and India, anti-competitive investigations in the UK, the role played by HSBC in Stanford International Bank and an action in the US relating to the Mexican government bond market.
As HSBC stressed these actions are unlikely to be material but they do highlight the risk involved in the banking game. In a litigious world one wrong step, one false move could see this long list of ongoing litigations bulging further.