HSBC orders social media ban over damaging reports

HONG KONG: HSBC Holdings Plc told its staff to stop posting on all the bank’s social media accounts over fears of “negative reactions” to the revelations in leaked suspicious activity reports.

In a memo to employees on Monday, Tricia Weener, head of marketing for HSBC’S global commercial and investment banking arms, said the London-based company would not post until later.

“Given the current news coverage, a decision has been taken to pause all HSBC proactive social media posts with immediate effect (except for customer responses in banking services), to avoid negative reactions and comments across our channels and content,” wrote Weener.

Shares in HSBC fell 2.7% to HK$28.50 in Hong Kong as of 10:45am local time, after reaching the lowest since 1995 Monday.

HSBC is one of about 90 banks named in the leaked documents from the United States Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which showed about US$2 trillion in transactions between 1999 and 2017 that were flagged by financial institutions’ internal compliance officers as possible money laundering or other criminal activity.

In HSBC’S case, the documents said it processed millions of dollars in transactions for a Ponzi scheme, leaving victims of the scam unable to recoup losses.

“Starting in 2012, HSBC embarked on a multi-year journey to overhaul its ability to combat financial crime across more than 60 jurisdictions.

“HSBC is a much safer institution than it was in 2012,” the bank said in response to the stories by Buzzfeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The bank operates dozens of social media accounts across the world, providing information on its services to customers in all the major countries where it operates.

It was the sixth-largest bank in the world by 2020, and the largest in Europe, with total assets of US$2.715 trillion. HSBC has around 3,900 offices in 65 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America. — Bloomberg