US probes banks in FIFA scandal

New York 

US regulators are probing large banks including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and HSBC over their possible handling of tainted funds in the FIFA corruption scandal, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Investigators with the Department of Justice and New York's Department of Financial Services are focusing, in separate investigations, on whether banks' internal controls, including those against money laundering, failed to spot questionable payments by figures in the scandal involving top officials of soccer's world governing body.

Other banks in the probes include Barclays, Standard Chartered, Israel's Bank Hapoalim, and New York-based Delta National Bank, according to the sources. 

Rob Sherman, a spokesman for HSBC Holdings in New York, confirmed aspects of the probe in an emailed statement.

"We are continuing to review the allegations in the indictments against certain FIFA executives and others, to ensure that our services are not being misused for financial crime," he said.

Meanwhile Visa, the US credit card issuer and a major sponsor of global soccer, expressed a lack of confidence in FIFA's leadership on Thursday and called for an independent commission to help reform the body.

Visa chief executive Charlie Scharf said in a statement that FIFA's responses to the corruption allegations "continue to show its lack of awareness of the seriousness of the changes which are needed."