“ASIC alleges HSBC Australia failed to have adequate controls in place to prevent and detect unauthorised payments and failed to comply with its obligations to investigate customer reports of unauthorised transactions within the specified time frames required, and to promptly reinstate their banking services in a timely manner,” according to the statement.
Australia’s markets watchdog sued HSBC Bank of Australia for failing to protect customers who lost millions of dollars in scams.
HSBC received about 950 reports of unauthorised transactions between January 2020 and August 2024, resulting in customer losses of about A$23 million ($19.75 million), according to an Australian Securities and Investments Commission statement Monday. Around A$16 million of this occurred in the six months from October 2023 to March 2024.
