Tunisia seeks to block HSBC settlement in Geneva - paper

ZURICH (Reuters) - Tunisia has filed an objection to HSBC's agreement to pay 40 million Swiss francs (27.3 million pounds) to settle a money laundering investigation at its Swiss private bank, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday. After four months of inquiries Geneva authorities closed their investigation last month after HSBC agreed to pay the fine. Leaked files this year sparked allegations HSBC's private bank may have let clients conceal millions of dollars of assets and put Europe's largest lender in the spotlight of regulators including Geneva's public prosecutor. SonntagsZeitung said Tunisia, which is trying to recover funds linked to ousted autocratic leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, made an objection on June 16 to the settlement. The newspaper did not specify where the objection was made. "We fear that dropping the investigation into HSBC jeopardises the rights of my client in other criminal investigations," it quoted Yves Klein, a Geneva lawyer representing Tunisia, as saying. HSBC and Klein could not be reached immediately for comment on Sunday outside regular business hours. When the settlement was announced, Olivier Jornot, Geneva's attorney general, told reporters the case had exposed the weakness of Swiss law in fighting the flow of criminal funds. "It's easy to ask public prosecutors afterwards to carry out titanic investigations. But on the other hand when we have a law that practically doesn't punish intermediaries accepting money of dubious origin, there is a problem," he had said. The bank said at the time that no criminal charges would be filed and that neither the bank nor its employees were suspected of any current criminal offences. HSBC's Swiss arm is still facing investigations by U.S., French and Belgian authorities. HSBC has apologised to customers and investors over the previous failings of its Swiss business and has said the operation has since been overhauled. (Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Mark Potter)