AML

HSBC money laundering report’s release delayed amid US appeal

A U.S. judge has agreed to delay the release of a report that says HSBC Holdings Plc “moved too slowly” to enhance its anti-money laundering compliance program following a US$1.9 billion pact with the U.S. Justice Department. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday stayed the release while prosecutors and London-based HSBC appeal his January ruling requiring the unsealing of a report by a federal monitor appointed as part of a 2012 deferred prosecution deal.

Gleeson also agreed to redact parts of the January 2015 report by former New York prosecutor Michael Cherkasky to, among other things, minimize risks that criminals would exploit weaknesses in the anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs.