According to the Daily Mail news US authorities carries on the investigating HSBC after investments from Libyan sources increased dramatically before assets were frozen. HSBC is keen to stress it always co-operates with any official inquiry. Nobody has officially confirmed the investigation is happening.
According to news last June Libya has £182m on deposit with the bank, representing money it had collected for oil deposits. By September that figure had risen to £870m.
It's worth stressing once more that at this stage nobody has confirmed officially that an investigation exists, and all of the usual principles of "innocent until proven guilty" would apply here just as they would anywhere else.
Banks are currently not obliged to disclose details of dealings with nation states. It's ironic timing for the allegations to emerge, however, as today the Bribery Act comes into force in the UK today.
This will in future allow for the prosecution of companies found dealing unethically and with bribes - once again, it should be stressed that this is a report in a newspaper and not official confirmation that any investigation is happening.
According to news last June Libya has £182m on deposit with the bank, representing money it had collected for oil deposits. By September that figure had risen to £870m.
Allegations
It's worth stressing once more that at this stage nobody has confirmed officially that an investigation exists, and all of the usual principles of "innocent until proven guilty" would apply here just as they would anywhere else.
Banks are currently not obliged to disclose details of dealings with nation states. It's ironic timing for the allegations to emerge, however, as today the Bribery Act comes into force in the UK today.
This will in future allow for the prosecution of companies found dealing unethically and with bribes - once again, it should be stressed that this is a report in a newspaper and not official confirmation that any investigation is happening.
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