HSBC has been fined £57.4million by The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) for historic depositor protection failings dating back to 2015.

It is the second biggest fine that the watchdog has ever given out.

In a report released by the PRA, they said that the bank did not have “adequate systems and controls, and governance” that are pivotal to making prompt payments in the case of the bank collapsing.

The bank also "failed to be duly open and cooperative with the PRA" as they did not disclose any problems to the watchdog regarding flagging accounts as eligible for deposit protection. This occurred over a 15-month period.

The Bank of England said HSBC failed to accurately identify deposits that were eligible Britain's Financial Services Compensation Scheme - which protects customer cash up to 85,000 pounds.

Sam Woods, Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation and Chief Executive Officer of the PRA, said: “The serious failings in this case go to the heart of the PRA’s safety and soundness objective. It is vital that all banks comply fully with our requirements around preparedness for resolution.

"HBEU fell far short of its obligations in this area, and failed to disclose its failings to us in a timely manner. These failures led to today’s action, including the significant fine.”

Both HSBC Bank plc (HBEU) and HSBC UK Bank plc (HBUK) have been fined by the watchdog.

The bank said in a statement: "HSBC is pleased to have resolved this matter, which relates to the Bank’s compliance with certain parts of the PRA’s Depositor Protection Rules.

"The PRA’s final notice recognises the Bank’s co-operation with the investigation, as well as our efforts to fully resolve these issues. We continue to remain focused on serving our customers."