HSBC hires ex-spymaster to combat financial crime
BRITAIN'S biggest bank HSBC has hired the former head of MI5 to help it fight financial crime and bounce back from a money-laundering scandal.
The bank has recruited Sir Jonathan Evans who retired as director-general of MI5 in April as a non-executive director from August this year.
He will also be a director of HSBC Holdings and a member of a financial security committee launched by the bank in January.
Evans will get £125,000 a year for his services including a director’s fee of £95,000 a year and £30,000 a year for sitting on the Financial System Vulnerabilities Committee.
His experience includes counter-espionage, protection of classified information and security of critical national infrastructure, HSBC said.
Chairman Douglas Flint said: “Sir Jonathan’s experience and expertise gained from a career at the highest level of public service combating threats to data security, critical infrastructure and from international terrorism and organised crime will be of considerable value.”
HSBC is trying to clean up its image after it received fines of about £1.2billion in December, the largest ever imposed on a bank, following a US investigation into its Mexican and US operations.
Investigators criticised HSBC’s anti-money laundering systems and found that lax controls allowed two drug cartels to move £581million through the bank.
It is an important step in preventing a recurrence of the failings of the past.
At its annual meeting last month several shareholders criticised HSBC for its mistakes in Mexico and accused the bank of aiding tax avoidance by customers in such places as Switzerland and Jersey.
Flint told the meeting HSBC was reviewing its operations in tax havens and planned to reduce the amount of trade it does in those jurisdictions but he said it included legitimate business.
HSBC said Evans, who focused on counter-terrorism and cyber threats, would help HSBC to improve financial security.
A spokeswoman said his appointment would also boost the bank’s efforts to repair its reputation. She said: “It is an important step in preventing a recurrence of the failings of the past.”
Meanwhile HSBC said it was considering selling its £442million stake in Bank Ekonomi in Indonesia as part of a drive to slim down and simplify its business.
The shares fell 10p to 726p.