HSBC is expected to get slapped with one of the largest money-laundering fines ever.
The fine may total nearly $2 billion — double the amount that US authorities have extracted from institutions for money-laundering wrongdoing recently.
“As we’ve previously disclosed in financial filings, we are cooperating with authorities in ongoing investigations,” said an HSBC spokesman, who declined to comment on speculation of a settlement.
Bank officials have admitted to poor money-laundering controls but have not disclosed any specifics on settlement talks with officials.
Sources tell The Post that a settlement might be imminent.
UK-based HSBC — the subject of a money-laundering investigation over the past two years by the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve — will admit to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and the Trading With the Enemy Act, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
News of the impending deal came yesterday as US authorities settled money-laundering charges levied against another UK firm, Standard Chartered Bank.
The Standard Chartered action was also vindication for hard-charging regulator Ben Lawsky. Three months ago he butted heads with rival regulators who groused that his little-known New York Department of Financial Services had jumped ahead of their investigations by striking a $340 million settlement with Standard Chartered.
Standard Chartered, the 150-year-old multinational financial institution run by Peter Sands, agreed to pay $327 million to settle charges that it laundered some $250 billion for rogue nations including Iran and Libya.
Standard Chartered also admitted that it violated New York state laws by falsifying the records of its New York-based financial institution and by submitting false statements.