This basically means that HSBC is taking measures to avoid this kind of leak in the future. From our perspective, this information was useful because that's why the committee decided to hold meetings on the topic. You hope that it won't happen again and that we will not get all the information we need to do our work. I am not very surprised at that.
You say that you only refer clients to branches in other countries. For instance, you may refer Canadian clients to an HSBC bank in Panama. HSBC Canada knows who the clients involved are, and it sends to Panama a letter saying that they are good clients and that they should be allowed to open an account. In turn, Panama processes the information according to its laws. Basically, you do not want to know anything about what those people are doing in Panama. You wash your hands of the whole thing.
Is there a broker or a nominee between the two countries who can blow the whistle if the clients you referred to Panama are doing something deemed illegal in Canada? Is there a third party, a broker, who can relay this kind information?