London, Dec 11 : British banking giant HSBC will pay over 1.9 billion dollars in fines to US authorities in a bid to settle money-laundering investigations into its business.

The figure tops the 1.5 billion dollars that the bank set aside last month to cover its costs relating to the allegations.

According to the Telegraph, the fines relate to an investigation of HSBC''s US and Mexican operations that found the bank had allegedly ignored warnings that billions of dollars of funds being moved between the two subsidiaries were linked to drug trafficking.

A Senate committee described the bank as `pervasively polluted for a long time,' the paper said.

It highlighted what it said were lax controls and inadequate compliance by staff as the bank was accused of handling transactions involving terrorists, drug lords and rogue regimes, the report added. (ANI)