Tunisia has filed an objection to HSBC's agreement to pay 40 million Swiss francs ($42.5 million) to settle a money laundering investigation at its Swiss private bank, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday. After four months of inquiries Geneva authorities closed their investigation last month after HSBC agreed to pay the fine.
Leaked files this year sparked allegations HSBC's private bank may have let clients conceal millions of dollars of assets and put Europe's largest lender in the spotlight of regulators including Geneva's public prosecutor.
SonntagsZeitung said Tunisia, which is trying to recover funds linked to ousted autocratic leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, made an objection on June 16 to the settlement. The newspaper did not specify where the objection was made.
"We fear that dropping the investigation into HSBC jeopardizes the rights of my client in other criminal investigations," it quoted Yves Klein, a Geneva lawyer representing Tunisia, as saying.
HSBC and Klein could not be reached immediately for comment on Sunday outside regular business hours.
When the settlement was announced, Olivier Jornot, Geneva's attorney general, told reporters the case had exposed the weakness of Swiss law in fighting the flow of criminal funds.