The banking giant HSBC has agreed to pay a reported $1.9 billion fine to avoid money-laundering charges in the United States. A Senate report earlier this year found Mexican drug cartels and firms allegedly linked to terrorism obtain financial services from HSBC, which it said provided a “gateway for terrorists to gain access to U.S. dollars and the U.S. financial system.” Among other allegations, the bank reportedly supplied a billion dollars to a firm whose founder had ties to al-Qaeda and shipped billions in cash from Mexico to the United States despite warnings the money was coming from drug cartels. Because of HSBC’s status as one of the world’s largest banks, state and federal officials reportedly agreed to seek the fine over concerns that criminal charges would have hurt the global financial system. The New York Times reports the HSBC settlement reinforces questions over whether “certain financial institutions, having grown so large and so interconnected, are too big to indict.” The HSBC settlement is expected to be formally unveiled today.