HSBC, which was fined $1.9 billion last year by UK and US authorities for infractions of anti-money laundering laws, is accused of illegal activity in Argentina.

The South American country says the UK/Hong Kong-listed bank used “fake receipts” to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion and launder $77 million, media reports said.

“HSBC takes compliance with the law, wherever it operates, very seriously and strongly supports the efforts of governments and regulators to detect unlawful activity and take appropriate action. The allegations made by regulators in Argentina are of great concern, and we are committed to working co-operatively with authorities to ensure a thorough review and appropriate resolution of the matter,” the bank told this publication in an emailed statement yesterday.

The country's tax authority said it had filed criminal charges against HSBC, according to the BBC.

Argentina laid out its case against HSBC late on Monday, reports said. "On the basis of what's been investigated so far, in six months we've recorded 392 million pesos in fraudulent transactions, generated by evasion and money laundering," Ricardo Echegaray, head of Argentina's tax agency was reported as saying.