British banking giant HSBC might play a role in meeting an unusual condition that a federal judge in Brooklyn imposed when approving the bank's $1.9 billion settlement with the Justice Department, by supplementing government reports on its compliance with the terms, a lawyer representing HSBC said in a court filing. HSBC agreed in December to pay the money to regulators and the Justice Department for operating with anti-money laundering weaknesses that among other things allowed drug cartels to launder hundreds of millions of dollars. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson took an abnormally long time, roughly seven months, before signing off on the deal on July 1. It appears Gleeson took his time because he wanted to carefully consider all facets of the high-profile pact, former Justice Department officials familiar with such agreements said. And when approving it, Gleeson took an unusual step that seemed to suggest his careful scrutiny of the arrangement was likely to continue throughout
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