HSBC Q3 profit dented by $800 million hit for U.S. fine

Published November 05, 2012

| Reuters

LONDON – HSBC Holdings took another $1.15 billion hit to cover a potential U.S. fine for lax anti-money laundering controls and UK mis-selling on Monday, eating into quarterly profits at Europe's biggest bank.

HSBC's earnings were aided by a sharp drop in bad debts, but it set aside another $800 million to cover a potential fine from U.S. regulators for breaches in its anti-money laundering controls in Mexico, adding to $700 million set aside in July. It also took another $353 million charge for UK mis-selling, mainly for payment protection insurance.

The bank reported an underlying profit - after stripping out the impact of disposals and changes in the value of its own debt - in the July-September quarter of $5 billion, up from a revised $2.2 billion a year earlier.

(Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Sarah White)

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