Global banking major, HSBC has admitted that its anti-money laundering operations had serious shortcomings which resulted in the bank becoming a part of the process of cleaning dirty money.

The bank officials a Senate panel that the company is taking steps to address the concerns raised by Senate committee's investigative report on the matter. A senior official of the bank have resigned following the shocking revelation that the bank was used to divert illegal money into the world economy.

David Bagley, head of group compliance HSBC Holdings said, "I recognize that there have been some significant areas of failure. I have said before, and I will say again, despite the best efforts and intentions of many dedicated professionals, HSBC have fallen short of our own expectations, and the expectations of our regulators."

He told a key Senate panel during a Congressional hearing that banks planning ot operate in eh US and international markets must learn from the episode. Bagley said that is now time for him to step down and allow someone else to take charge of the global banking major.

Paul Thurston, chief executive of Retail Banking and Wealth Management for the HSBC Group has said in his testimony that the bank is closing down HSBC Mexico accounts in the Caymans. He said that the bank will continue scrutinize its businesses in Mexico to address shortcomings.