汇丰拨出7亿美元支付美国罚单

HSBC has admitted the bank's failure to prevent money laundering in Mexico and the US was "shameful, embarrassing and very painful", as it took a $700m charge to cover the cost of US regulatory fines.

汇丰(HSBC)承认，该行未能阻止墨西哥和美国的洗钱活动是"令人羞愧和难堪，同时也是十分痛苦的"。该行已在账目上计入一笔7亿美元的支出，用以支付美国监管部门开出的罚单。

The affair, compounded by $1.3bn of charges related to compensating customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance and derivatives products in the UK, helped push underlying profits at Britain's biggest bank down 3 per cent in the first six months of the year.

此外，汇丰计入13亿美元的支出，用以赔偿在误导之下购买了支付还款保障保险(PPI)和衍生品的英国顾客。受这两项支出影响，这家英国最大银行今年上半年的基础利润被推低3%。

Stuart Gulliver, chief executive, reiterated an earlier apology. "The firm clearly lost its way," he said. "But we have changed. It is a priority for senior management to build on steps already taken to manage risk and ensure compliance more effectively." The scandals, which undermined healthy performance in much of HSBC's operations, particularly in its Asian heartland, come as Britain's banks face political criticism and a regulatory crackdown. They are also feeding concern about London's reputation as a financial centre.

汇丰首席执行官欧智华(Stuart Gulliver)再次致歉。他说："公司显然迷失了方向。但我们已做出了整改。对高级管理层来说，当前的首要任务是在已经采取的举措的基础上继续努力，以更加有效地管理风险和确保合规。"这些丑闻拖累了汇丰相当大部分业务（尤其是在该行亚洲腹地的业务）的健康表现。当前英国各银行面临政治上的批评以及监管部门加大监管力度。这些丑闻还加剧了人们对伦敦作为金融中心的名声的担忧。

On Friday Barclays revealed that it was the subject of another regulatory probe, this time into the disclosure of fee payments relating to its 2008 capital raisings. This came only weeks after its £290m settlement, relating to its involvement in the Libor borrowing rate scandal, triggered the resignation of the bank's top three directors, including chief executive Bob Diamond. Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, said last week that the period had been reputationally "very bad" for Britain's banks, presenting a "huge challenge" if trust was to be rebuilt.

巴克莱银行(Barclays)上周五表示，该行正在接受监管部门的另一项调查，此次的调查对象是涉及2008年融资活动的收费披露情况。就在几周前，巴克莱因卷入伦敦银行间同业拆借利率(Libor)操纵丑闻而支付2.9亿英镑和解费用，并促使该行三名高级董事辞职，其中包括首席执行官鲍勃•戴蒙德(Bob Diamond)。英国金融服务管理局(FSA)主席特纳勋爵(Lord Turner)上周表示，这段时期对英国各银行的口碑造成了"极坏的"影响，给重建信任带来一个"巨大的挑战"。