HSBC hit with record fine for misguiding the elderly. Surprised?
We were saddened to see our very own HSBC - the warm, cuddly bank that professes to care so much for us, our well-being and of course, our wealth - has to pay GBP39.8 million (HK$495 million), including a record fine, in Britain for ripping off elderly people in care homes.
The Financial Services Authority fined the banking group GBP10.5million and expects it to pay GBP29.3million in compensation for consumer finance misselling.
Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, said the HSBC offshoot, Nursing Home Fees Agency, had breached the trust of vulnerable and elderly customers by selling them unsuitable products.
According to the FSA, the agency advised 2,485 elderly clients to buy long-term investment products to fund their care from 2005 to last year. In many cases, the clients, who had an average age of 83, were advised to buy investments that normally are recommended to be held for a minimum of five years. Some of the clients had a life expectancy of less than five years.
The agency was Britain's biggest supplier of independent financial advice on long-term care with a market share of 60 per cent.