Australia's corporate regulator has initiated legal action against the local affiliate of the global bank HSBC , claiming it failed to correctly respond to about 950 reports of customers losing close to a million dollars or more.

Australia’s corporate watchdog is suing the local unit of HSBC Holdings over allegations that the bank failed to protect customers from criminal scams.

ASIC alleges the bank lacked proper controls to prevent unauthorised transactions and failed to investigate reports promptly.