Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
HSBC chiefs face US grilling on money laundering
HSBC executives appear at a US Senate hearing into the bank's lax controls over money laundering. According to Bloomberg, accusations levelled at the bank include lack of compliance in Mexico, a nation struggling to rein in drug cartels, unreported Iranian transactions and poor attention to US money-laundering rules. In a memo to staff, HSBC chairman and chief executive Stuart Gulliver (left) conceded the bank should be held accountable 'for fixing what went wrong'. Newspapers reported last week that the bank faced fines of up to US$1 billion.
US executive faces sentencing over Shanghai fraud
A federal court in Brooklyn, New York, is expected to sentence former Morgan Stanley executive Garth Peterson, 42, who has pleaded guilty to charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over a property deal in Shanghai. Peterson, who was head of Morgan Stanley's real estate investments division on the mainland, had told the bank that its interest in a Shanghai real estate deal was being sold to a state-controlled entity. In fact, it was sold - at a discount - to a shell company controlled by Peterson, a Chinese official and a Canadian lawyer, according to the Justice Department. He faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of US$250,000.
Organiser gives briefing on eve of Book Fair
The Trade Development Council holds a briefing on its week-long Hong Kong Book Fair, which opens tomorrow at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. Attendance at the fair, first held in 1990, has grown each year, with organisers expecting this year's event to outdo the record set last year with 950,000 visitors.
