Three HSBC firms have been fined £3.2 million for losing customers’ confidential details, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said today.
However, the fines would have totalled more than £4.5 million had the three firms not agreed to settle at an early stage, therefore receiving a 30% discount.
According to the FSA, HSBC Life lost an unencrypted CD with the details of thousands of policyholders, while HSBC Actuaries lost a disc with details on a further 2,000 pension scheme members. HSBC Insurance was also fined.
HSBC said it regretted the breaches and added that no customer had reported any loss from these failures and the FSA noted that all three firms had taken action to address the concerns raised.
The loss of data came despite a warning from HSBC Insurance’s compliance team over the need for robust data controls two years ago.
In April 2007, the details of the pension scheme members were lost while a second loss occurred in February 2008 containing data for 180,000 policyholders.
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