PRESS RELEASE OF IRVING H. PICARD TRUSTEE FOR LIQUIDATION OF MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURITIES SEEKS $9 BILLION IN RECOVERIES, AND ADDITIONAL DAMAGES AT TRIAL, FROM HSBC, RELATED ENTITIES, FEEDER FUNDS IN MADOFF PONZI SCHEME

NEW YORK, NY, December 5, 2010 – Irving H. Picard, the Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BLMIS”) today announced the filing of a complaint in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging 24 counts of financial fraud and misconduct against HSBC Holdings plc, HSBC Bank plc, and affiliated entities (collectively “HSBC”).

The complaint alleges that HSBC enabled Madoff’s Ponzi scheme through the creation, marketing and support of an international network of a dozen feeder funds based in Europe, the Caribbean, and Central America, which are also named in the complaint (collectively, the “Feeder Fund Defendants”). Other Defendants named in the filing include the management companies and service providers of those feeder funds, as well as certain of their directors and managers, namely Sonja Kohn, Genevalor, Mario Benbassat and his sons, Albert and Stephane, as well as Bank Medici and Unicredit, who together with other defendants helped fuel and extend Madoff’s Ponzi scheme across international borders.

Continue to full complaint below…

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