India
on July 19, approached the
US to get more details on
HSBC's alleged failure to
prevent money laundering by
drug cartels and terrorists,
reports The Times of India.
Indian
ambassador in the US Nirupama
Rao is learnt to have contacted
American authorities after
Union Home Secretary R K Singh
wrote to her, seeking details
of the issues. "We need
to get some more information
from the Americans. We will
get that very soon. This has
been worrying us," Singh
said, when asked about the
findings of US Senate committee,
which has brought the role
of HSBC's India staff under
lens for their failure to
work as "offshore reviewers".
R.K.
Singh said stated, "Any
financial institution that
does not follow the international
guidelines set by the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) makes
the entire world vulnerable”.
He
also commented, “I think this
is a very serious matter and
we will get to the bottom
of it. We need to get some
more information from the
Americans. We will get that
very soon. This has been worrying
us”, according to dnaindia.com.
Indicating launching of a
probe, Singh said, “To tackle
this, we have set up a financial
intelligence unit. Any financial
institution that does not
follow the international guidelines
makes the entire world vulnerable,”
he added.
A
senior Union Home Ministry
official said, “The probe
done by the US committee,
in fact, has vindicated what
we have been saying in the
international forums for a
long time that money laundering
could be directly linked to
terror financing”. | 
