- LONDON: HSBC Holdings PLC says it has agreed to pay $62.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a hedge fund that lost money from the Bernard Madoff fraud.
The bank said it would pay the money to investors in Thema International Fund, an Ireland-based fund that brought a class-action lawsuit in New York.
At the time Thema, an Ireland-based fund, funneled money to Madoff Securities, various HSBC units provided custodial and administrative services to the fund.
The lawsuit alleges that the bank should have known about the fraud.
The bank said the settlement, which is subject to US court approval, did not amount to any admission of wrongdoing.
It is thought to be the first settlement by a fund custodian related to the huge Ponzi scheme.