HSBC investigated by HMC over ‘criminal accounts’
HSBC completed 100% of its cases related to mis-sold swaps in February this year IBTimes UK

HSBC has revealed that it has stumped up £300m to victims that were mis-sold complex derivatives, which accounts for 27% of the British banking industry's total.

In a statement sent to IBTimes UK, HSBC confirmed that it has paid out an average of £139,000 per customer and that it had completed its review process for businesses that claimed to have been mis-sold interest rate swap agreements.

"Our Past Business Review is progressing well, and while the latest FCA stats show we have completed 100% of the cases that came to us by the end of February, there is still work to do as customers are still opting in to the process, and consequential loss claims are being worked through," said HSBC.

"So far we have offered over £300m in redress to almost 2,200 customers – an average of £139,000 per customer. We are committed to complete the review as quickly as possible, providing fair and reasonable outcomes for customers."

What is an IRSA?

IRSAs are contracts between banks and customers where typically one side pays a floating or variable rate of interest and receives a fixed rate of interest payments in exchange.

Such contracts are used to hedge against extreme movements in market interest rates over a given period. Companies that saw the value of these products move against them as rates fell during the recession now owe banks inordinate sums of money in yearly interest payments.

This is the first time HSBC has given an average figure on IRSA payouts.

Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed today that all nine banks have now completed their sales reviews of customers claiming they were mis-sold swaps before March 2014.

AIB, Bank of Ireland, Co-op, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander, and Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks have met their targets by delivering redress letters to all but a handful of customers by the end of May, within 12 months of starting the reviews.

"Barclays and RBS will send out redress letters to the remaining customers (around 500 customers between them relating to 700 sales) before the end of June," said the FCA.

"The banks have now sent 15,000 redress determinations to customers, 13,000 of which include a cash redress offer and 2,000 confirm that the IRHP sale complied with our rules or that the customer suffered no loss."

After close to 30,000 cases eligible for mis-selling review, only 7,000 customers have accepted a redress offer and only £1.1bn has been paid out.

In comparison, banks set aside £20bn to compensate PPI victims.

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