Shares of HSBC and Standard Chartered in Hong Kong plummeted nearly 3 per cent on Monday morning after reports suggested that they along with other banks allegedly moved large sums of illicit funds for nearly two decades.
HSBC shares in Hong Kong fell as much as 4.4 per cet to HK$29.60 earlier in the day while Standard Chartered shares dropped 3.8 per cent to HK$35.80 per share.
According to reports based on leaked suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed by banks and other financial firms with the US Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), both HSBC and Standard Chartered allegedly moved suspicious funds despite red flags.
The FinCEN files are more than 2,500 documents, most of which were files that banks sent to the US authorities between 2000 and 2017.
These documents are some of the international banking system’s most closely guarded secrets. Banks use them to report suspicious behaviour but they are not proof of wrongdoing or crime.
The Asian stock markets on Monday traded on a mixed note with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down 0.6 per cent.
