Global banking giant HSBC has been fined more than £3 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failing to protect customers’ confidential details.
The FSA said three of HSBC's businesses – Life UK, Actuaries & Consultants and Insurance Brokers – had made a number of gaffes that put consumers’ personal information at risk.
The fines are centred on two incidents. One dates back to 2007, when HSBC Actuaries lost an unencrypted disk containing information, including dates of birth and national insurance numbers, of nearly 2,000 pension scheme members.
The other event, in February last year, saw HSBC Life lose an unencrypted CD containing the details of 180,000 policy holders.
The FSA said the incidents could have helped criminals steal customers' identities, and it therefore fined HSBC Life £1.61 million and the Actuaries business £875,000. HSBC Insurance was fined £700,000.
The financial watchdog also criticised HSBC's training methods, noting that staff were given insufficient training on how to identify and manage risks such as ID theft.
Margaret Cole, director of enforcement at the FSA, said the breaches were very disappointing.
She said: 'All three firms failed their customers by being careless with personal details that could have ended up in the hands of criminals. It is also worrying that increasing awareness around the importance of keeping personal information safe and the dangers of fraud did not prompt the firms to do more to protect their customers' details.