High profile events which have cast a shadow over the reputations of a number of global financial institutions during the last year and cost them millions of dollars in regulatory fines and civil law suits have dominated mainstream news headlines.
HSBC, one of the largest institutions in the world, responsible for a significant proportion of global interbank FX order flow, has let six employees go for their antics during a team building event in Birmingham, England, in which they staged a spoof video, subsequently posting it on social media sites including Instagram, displaying the HSBC employees wearing orange overalls and posing as members of ISIS.
The eight-second video was filmed at the Teamworks Karting track in Birmingham, during the team building event which was organised by the bank.
The individuals concerned, who are thought to be legal staff, acted out a scene in which one of them stands behind his colleague holding the scruff of his neck, emulating the gruesome social media photographs which ISIS has distributed over recent months.
One staff member shouted “Allahu Akbar” which means God is great in Arabic, during the clip, according to The Sun.
The bank described the video, showing staff members in balaclavas holding a fake knife over a kneeling man in an orange jumpsuit, as “abhorrent”.
“We took the decision to sack the individuals involved,” a spokesperson for the bank said. “This is an abhorrent video and HSBC would like to apologize for any offence caused.”
Two of the men involved, Mr Ahmed and a colleague Jabir Dar denied any knowledge of the video, which was posted on Instagram but later deleted.