HSBC offices in Geneva, Switzerland [Image: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images].

A statement from the prosecutors said: “Following the recent revelations related to the HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland), the public prosecutor announces the opening of a criminal procedure against the bank… for aggravated money laundering.”

The bank is currently facing criminal investigations in the US, France, Belgium and Argentina.

In the US, HSBC paid almost $2bn (£1.3bn, €1.75bn) to secure a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) over its failure to establish proper procedures to prevent money laundering by drug cartels and terrorists.

Commentators in the US were outraged that despite the bank’s “willful flouting of US sanctions laws and regulations” no criminal penalties have been assessed for any executive who may have been involved.

Read the full story here.

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