In 2010, the government imposed strict limits on cash transactions in U.S. dollars at all Mexican banks, limiting tourists and residents who don't have accounts at Mexican banks to exchanging $1,500 a month or less.
HSBC said it had implemented all the regulators' recommendations, such as reporting suspicious transactions, getting more information on clients and refusing to do business with clients who appeared dodgy.
"HSBC regrets that actions in the past, which have been corrected, affect the bank's image today," the bank said.
Babatz said that in the past HSBC had appealed fines that regulators had levied in the courts. It was unclear whether the Wednesday announcement marked a change in that policy.
The banking commission president said details of the scandal first emerged in the U.S. Senate committee report because Mexico's "extremely restrictive" legal framework doesn't allow regulators to announce investigations or fines until all appeals are exhausted.
He said banks in Mexico had used intensive lobbying to get favorable regulatory rules, and said those rules should be changed because they favor financial institutions and put regulators at a disadvantage.
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