HSBC quiet on Gulliver bonus report
A bank that was last year forced to set aside £950m to cover the cost of a mis-selling and money-laundering scandal has declined to comment on reports its chief executive will receive a bonus of around £2m.
Stuart Gulliver’s HSBC windfall will be deferred and subject to clawback, and he will not be able to cash it in until he retires or leaves, Sky News reported.
The bonus is for 2012 – a year in which the bank’s head of compliance resigned in front of a US Senate sub-committee.
The bank exposed the US to billions of dollars worth of money laundering, drug trafficking and terrorist financing.
David Bagley, who had been HSBC head of group compliance since 2002, stepped down before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs sub-committee after its findings were published.
Mr Gulliver later apologised for “the mistakes of the past” as it set aside a further $1.5bn to cover the cost of the scandal.
HSBC will release its full-year results on Monday when it is also expected to announce Mr Gulliver’s bonus as part of a multi-million pound pay package.
The bank declined to comment.
The banking giant appointed a team of heavyweights including a former UK tax chief as part of a crackdown on financial crime following its money laundering settlement.
Dave Hartnett, previously permanent secretary for tax at HM Revenue & Customs, and Bill Hughes, the former head of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, were among a number of advisers leading a new financial crime committee, reporting directly to the board.
HSBC also hired former US deputy attorney general Jim Comey to its board as one of three non-executives to sit on the committee.
The move came in the wake of HSBC’s record settlement with US regulators in December over accusations it allowed rogue states and drug cartels to launder billions of pounds through its US arm.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) ordered the bank to establish a committee and independent monitor to oversee anti-money laundering activities after the alleged breaches.
