HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), custodian of a fund that lost about 1.1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) through Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, said liability rules for banks in Europe weren’t as strict at the time of the scandal surrounding the convicted fraudster. The fund in question had “very specific obligations” to investors, HSBC said at the High Court in Dublin today on the third day of a trial scheduled to last 14 weeks. Thema International Fund Plc is seeking about $1.5 billion in damages. The case is the first of dozens of disputes in Europe to focus on the liability of banks as custodians to investment funds that put money with Madoff, who was charged in December 2008. More on Bloomberg here.
