HSBC: British Bank HSBC

HSBC Dept: NEW YORK, N.Y. - American authorities on Tuesday cited "astonishing" dysfunction at the British bank HSBC and said that it had helped Mexican drug traffickers, Iran, Libya and others under U.S. suspicion or sanction to move money around the world, according to Winnipeg Free Press. The U.S. stopped short of charging executives, citing the bank's immediate, full co-operation and the damage that an assault on the company might cause on economies and people, including thousands who would lose jobs if the bank collapsed and treasury Under Secretary David Cohen, left, addresses a news conference in Brooklyn, N.Y., Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. British bank HSBC has agreed to pay $1.9 billion to settle a New York based-probe in connection with the laundering of money from narcotics traffickers in Mexico, U.S. authorities announced Tuesday. He is joined by US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch, center, and Lanny Breuer, right, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. AP Photo/Richard Drew HSBC agreed to pay $1.9 billion, the largest penalty ever imposed on a bank. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.