👉 Background: HSBC, founded back in 1865, is the largest Europe-based bank by total assets with more than $2.9 trillion USD. Back in 1986, HSBC was granted an Australian banking licence, and has been ranked as the best international bank in Australia for 10 years in a row... but maybe not so much lately.

👉 What happened: ASIC, the corporate watchdog, is barking hard at HSBC, claiming that they didn’t respond quick enough to customer complaints about scams. It’s believed that 950 HSBC customers lost $23 million as a result of “spoofing” scams.

👉 What else: ASIC allege that it took HSBC 145 days to investigate some of these reported scam text chains. And this is big news - because it’s the first time ASIC has held a financial institution to account.

What's the key learning?

💡The responsibility of preventing scams might be shifting away from individuals to financial institutions.

💡According to the ACCC, Australians lost $2.74 billion to scams in 2023. But ASIC’s lawsuit against HSBC argues that financial institutions should take more responsibility for protecting their customers… even when scams involve customer errors like sharing personal details.

💡So, if ASIC wins, it could set a new precedent in the financial services space. And, if banks are required to cover these costs, it will definitely change the investment they put into solving it not just for HSBC, not just for HSBC customers but for all banks and customers in Australia.