Mexico fines HSBC $28 million in laundering case

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican regulators say they have fined HSBC $28 million for failing to prevent money laundering through accounts at the bank.

Mexico's National Securities and Banking Commission says the Mexico subsidiary of the London-based bank has paid the fines.

The commission says the fine was equal to about half of the subsidiary's 2011 annual profits.

The commission and a report by a U.S. senate investigative committee found the bank failed to control suspicious flows of billions of dollars through its accounts.

The commission said Wednesday the violations began in the early 2000s.

Officials say HSBC became the main shipper of bank cash transfers from Mexico to the United States in the 2000s, and in 2007 and 2008 sent north about $7 billion in cash.