HSBC Under Fire: Australian Regulator Initiates Legal Action

The Australian financial regulatory authority has initiated legal action against HSBC. The bank is accused of failing to adequately protect its customers from fraudsters, which has led to 'widespread and systematic deficiencies.' Between 2020 and 2024, HSBC Australia customers are reported to have lost approximately 23 million AUD to fraudsters, with individual losses of over 90,000 AUD reported for some customers. The bank's lack of responsiveness to the fraud cases is considered a violation of its obligations, and in an extreme case, a customer was locked out of their account for 542 days. A spokeswoman for HSBC stated that the bank 'considers' the raised issues and will cooperate with ASIC.