Reported by Laith Al-Khalaf

(Excerpt shared below. To read full report, go to: https://www.ft.com/content/ab96ebcb-edcd-4537-b1b3-ffce3cc30bfc)

HSBC’s Swiss private bank has launched a cull of more than 1,000 wealthy Middle Eastern clients, as it faces ongoing scrutiny from regulators over high-risk clients.

The bank will be terminating its relationship with a slew of customers from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, and Egypt — many of whom have assets of more than $100mn — according to people familiar with the matter.

HSBC’s Swiss private bank has informed affected clients that they will no longer be able to use its services and will be sending out letters advising them to move their accounts elsewhere in the coming months, one of the people said.

The changes, which were first reported by Bloomberg News, come amid an ongoing crackdown by the Swiss banking watchdog, Finma, on HSBC for its vetting procedures of some high-risk clients. 

In 2024, HSBC’s Swiss private bank was barred from taking on prominent public figures as clients after Finma found that the bank had breached anti-money laundering legislation. The regulator found that HSBC had not undertaken the appropriate due diligence for multiple transactions between 2002 and 2015 in which more than $300mn was transferred between Lebanon and Switzerland.