HSBC Holdings PLC (LON:HSBA) has agreed to pay US$101.1mln to settle an investigation by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) into currency rigging.
The investigation centred on some of the bank’s traders misusing confidential information from clients in order to boost profits.
READ: HSBC pays €300mln to French authorities to settle tax probe into Swiss bank
Last year, HSBC’s former banker Mark Johnson was found guilty of defrauding client Carin Energy in a 2011 currency trade. HSBC settled with Carin Energy for about US$8mln.
The lender’s settlement with the DoJ comprises a US$63.1mln criminal penalty and US$38.4mln in restitution to an unnamed corporate client.
HSBC has entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the DoJ, which would allow the bank to avoid criminal charges. The DPA is pending a review by a US court.
Just weeks ago HSBC was released from an earlier five-year DPA on allegations that its lax controls allowed Mexican drug cartels to launder money through the bank. HSBC paid US$1.9bn to US authorities to settle the claims.
In relation to the currency rigging scandal, HSBC said it would co-operate fully with regulatory and law enforcement authorities in any investigations against itself or former and current employees.
READ: Former HSBC foreign exchange trader found guilty of fraud in the US
HSBC has also agreed to improve its compliance programme and internal controls. It said since the misconduct between 2010 and 2011, it has introduced a number of measures to "make the control environment in its global markets business more robust".
The news comes a four months after the US Federal Reserve fined HSBC US$175mln for “unsound” practices in its foreign exchange business.
In November, the bank also agreed to pay €300mln to French authorities to settle a probe into claims the bank’s Swiss private banking unit helped clients in France evade taxes.