Republic Agrees to Pay Investors $606 Million

Republic New York Corp., a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings, pleaded guilty to helping financier Martin Armstrong swindle Japanese investors and will pay them $606 million, the largest corporate criminal restitution ever ordered by a U.S. court.

The charges against the unit of Britain’s No. 1 banking company stem from Republic’s involvement with Armstrong and his company, Princeton Economics International Inc.

Armstrong was accused of cheating Japanese investors out of about $1 billion in the early 1990s. He’s in jail for failing to surrender assets.

HSBC has set aside $655 million to settle claims brought by the investors.

American depositary receipts of HSBC rose $1.03 to $61.60 on the NYSE.