HSBC launches investigation into Italy chief

PanARMENIAN.Net - HSBC has launched an investigation into one of its senior executives in connection with a major corporate scandal centered on deals made by Italy’s largest insurer, the Guardian said.

Stuart Levey, HSBC’s chief legal officer, is understood to have ordered the inquiry into the current chief executive of the banking group’s Italian operations.

The small group of lawyers involved in the investigation, which has not been disclosed publicly, is examining the conduct of Marzio Perrelli, a former Goldman Sachs banker who joined HSBC’s Italian subsidiary in 2004 and became its CEO in 2008.

The Guardian understands the investigation is connected to a corporate scandal widely reported in the Italian press, involving the private equity dealings of the Generali insurance group. Italian police are understood to have visited HSBC offices in connection with their broader enquiries into the affair.

The revelation of HSBC’s high-level internal investigation is the latest public embarrassment for Europe’s largest bank, which is struggling to repair its reputation after a series of international scandals, the Guardian says.

In December 2012 HSBC received one of the biggest fines in banking history, $1.9bn, in a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over facilitating money-laundering for Mexican drugs cartels.

The bank has repeatedly and firmly stated that it has drastically reformed its management and compliance procedures since Stuart Gulliver took over as chief executive in 2011, and resisted claims it is “too big to manage”.

HSBC began operating in Milan in 1995. The subsidiary focuses on corporate finance and investment banking, serving “top-tier” customers rather than offering retail high street banking.