HSBC hit with $9bn Madoff lawsuit

HSBC is being sued for $9bn by the trustee trying to recover money for the victims of Bernard Madoff’s fraud.

The third major bank in as many weeks to be targeted, the claim against HSBC follows similar recent moves by trustee Irving Picard - who is suing JPMorgan $6.4bn and UBS for $2bn.

"Had HSBC and the defendants reacted appropriately to such warnings and other obvious badges of fraud outlined in the complaint, the Madoff Ponzi scheme would have collapsed years, billions of dollars and countless victims sooner," Picard says.

"The defendants were willfully and deliberately blind to the fraud, even after learning about numerous red flags surrounding Madoff."

Madoff, who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the multibillion-dollar fraud in March 2009, is serving a 150-year sentence in US federal prison.