By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-12-16 03:34:31 | Updated at 2024-12-16 05:26:17
1 hour ago
HSBC’s Australian unit is being sued by the country’s securities watchdog agency for failing to protect local customers from scams, resulting in A$23 million (US$14.65 million) of losses.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) lodged a claim against HSBC Bank Australia in the Australian federal court on Monday in relation to 950 reports totalling A$23 million over a five-year period from January 2020 to August 2024.
Scams have picked up in recent years, as nearly 70 per cent of the claims, totalling A$16 million, occurred in the six months from October 2023 to March 2024.
ASIC is among the global regulators that are grappling with ways to stamp out online scams, hoaxes and cybercrime. Australian banks have the legal obligation to protect the personal information of their customers, even though there is no law that mandates how banks should act in relation to fraud.
HSBC Australia failed to have adequate controls in place to prevent and detect unauthorised payments and failed to comply with its obligations to investigate customer reports of unauthorised transactions and to promptly reinstate customers banking services in a timely manner, according to ASIC.
The bank took 145 days to investigate some of the reports and 95 days to unlock some accounts, with one customer waiting 542 days to regain access to an account, ASIC said. Local codes of conduct require HSBC to complete an investigation into a report of an unauthorised transaction within 21 days, and within 45 days in exceptional circumstances.
