Thema International Fund had supposed assets of $1.1bn, the actual value of the fund was $312m according to HSBC
HSBC has agreed to pay $62.5m (�38m)to settle legal action in New York filed by Bernard Madoff's fraud victims.
In a regulatory filing Europe's biggest bank said it has entered a settlement with Dublin-based Thema investors and that the settlement should not be construed as an admission of wrongdoing or liability. HSBC is the target of a number of law suits and investigations concerning its role in the Madoff scandal.
HSBC units acted as custodian for Thema and other funds that funnelled money to Madoff. Thema purportedly had assets of $1.1bn on 30 November 2008 but as with the other Madoff-related funds most of these assets were fictitious. The real value of the fund was $312m, according to HSBC.
Irving Picard, court-appointed trustee to represent Madoff's victims, sued HSBC for $9bn last December, accusing the bank of enabling the Madoff fraud through an international network of "feeder funds" set up in Europe, the Caribbean and Central America. The bank was "wilfully and deliberately blind to the fraud, even after learning about numerous red flags surrounding Madoff" according to Picard's legal action. HSBC is one of a number of big banks charged by Picard with aiding and abetting Madoff in his $60bn fraud including Citigroup and JP Morgan.
The settlement only covers Thema's fund, the bank said in a statement, and "shall in no way be construed or deemed to be evidence of or an admission or concession with respect to any claim of any fault or liability or wrongdoing or damage whatsoever." In regards to other Madoff-related claims, HSBC said it "has good defences," and it "will continue to defend the other Madoff- related proceedings vigorously."
Last month HSBC tried to have Picard's suit thrown out of court. In a legal filing the bank said it did not know of Madoff's fraud and lost $1bn of its money investing with Madoff, 73, who is now serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina prison.
The settlement comes as Madoff's former payroll manager, Eric Lipkin, has pleaded guilty in a New York court after being charged with involvement in the Wall Street trader's multibillion-dollar fraud.
Lipkin, 37, admitted on Monday night that he "worked to deceive auditors". He pleaded guilty to six criminal counts, including falsifying documents and bank fraud, in a hearing in Manhattan federal court. The plea was part of an agreement to co-operate with the US government in its investigation of the biggest Ponzi scheme in US history.
Lipkin admitted that he had doctored documents to show holdings in nonexistent accounts, added fake employees to the Madoff payroll and lied to get a construction loan. US district judge Laura Taylor Swain told Lipkin he could face up to 70 years in prison.
Lipkin, the ninth person to be charged with involvement in the fraud, was released on a $2.5m (�1.5m) bond pending sentencing. He told the court that "I'd like to first apologise to my family, my friends and all the victims in the case."
Prosecutors have obtained guilty pleas from Madoff's former accountant, David Friehling, and a key Madoff associate, Frank DiPascali Jr, who faces 125 years in prison. Five other former Madoff employees who have pleaded not guilty, await trial before Swain.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/07/hsbc-madoff-case-settlement
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