Internal warnings on large cash transfers out of South Africa by the powerful Gupta business family were not heeded by HSBC , according to a British peer, who has demanded UK regulators probe the London-headquartered multinational lender for "possible criminal complicity" in money laundering, reported leading London daily Financial Times The Gupta family owns businesses spanning computer equipment, media and mining. In 2016 Atul Gupta became the seventh wealthiest person in South Africa with an estimated net worth of $773.47 million. The family had migrated from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to South Africa in 1993, shortly before the country's first democratic elections, to establish a computer firm.Former Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain informed the House of Lords last Wednesday that he had asked the UK Treasury to seek a probe into allegations against an unknown British bank for illicit transfers of funds on behalf of the Guptas, who are at the centre of a corruption scandal in South Africa, newspaper reported on Monday.Incidentally, the paper said, Hain had on Tuesday separately sent a letter to the Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA ), mentioning evidence that HSBC's internal systems had red-flagged the transfers as suspicious. Hain told the Lords on Wednesday that he had information that the UK headquarters had directed to ignore the transfers.The FCA has said it received the letter and will respond in due course. The letter from Hain, who grew up in South Africa, urged the FCA to probe "a serious breach" of the watchdog's practice at HSBC UK.

Source: Times of India November 06, 2017 22:07 UTC