The recent public revelations surrounding HSBC’s questionable and unethical behavior has caused regulators to shift their attention to individual employees— especially those in the banking giant’s compliance department and the executives who approved the due diligence of certain acquisitions.
According to a recent Financial Times article, HSBC’s senior executives, Group Chairman Douglas Flint and Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver, have been under scrutiny by regulators since the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists obtained “secret documents” stating that HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm failed to conduct sufficient due diligence on some of its clients who engaged in illegal activities while committing tax fraud. This points to the question: which executive will be held more accountable for these compliance and control failures?
