LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - HSBC (HSBA.L), (0005.HK) executives must be suffering from a sense of déjà vu. Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority on Friday fined the global bank 63.9 million pounds for deficiencies in its anti-money laundering processes. That was almost exactly nine years after HSBC paid a then-record $1.9 billion to U.S. authorities for failing to control suspect cash, including from Mexican drug cartels. As part of that settlement HSBC overhauled its controls, installed an external monitor to keep tabs on its progress, and signed a deferred prosecution agreement which expired in 2017. The FCA’s fine relates to HSBC’s failings to flag suspect transactions involving UK account holders, such as a company director who had a leading role in a criminal gang, and a customer later jailed for smuggling cigarettes. But it’s weird that the watchdog took so long. It reduced the fine by 30% because HSBC “agreed to settle at the earliest opportunity”. Presumably the bank would have preferred to do so much sooner. (By Peter Thal Larsen) Follow @Breakingviews on Twitter Capital Calls - More concise insights on global finance: Turkey’s Erdogan finds a new way to fuel inflation read more McDonald’s CEO clawback beats usual nothingburger read more Boohoo slump will outlast its festive partywear read more Citi diversity brag is begging for rivals’ riposte read more 3M is a banker’s idea of no fun read more Cineworld’s legal scary movie implies asset sales read more