HSBC Monitor Flagged Payments Linking Huawei With Iran

Prosecutors received information about suspicious transactions between Huawei Technologies and Iran, writes Greg Farrell for Bloomberg

A monitor assigned to HSBC Holdings Plc told federal prosecutors about suspicious transactions linking Huawei Technologies Co. with Iran, adding evidence to a U.S. investigation that led to the arrest of the Chinese company’s finance chief, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The monitor, Exiger, was enlisted by the Justice Department to oversee HSBC’s compliance efforts in 2013 following a $1.9 billion deferred-prosecution agreement with the bank that exposed a range of weaknesses in its internal controls. The London-based lender isn’t under investigation in this matter, another person said.

It’s unclear when Exiger flagged the Huawei transactions. The Justice Department’s deferred-prosecution deal was dismissed in December 2017, and Exiger’s five-year appointment expired a half-year later. But the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority and the Federal Reserve each kept the New York-based advisory firm in place.

Read the full article from Bloomberg