(Removes extraneous text in last paragraph)
Sept 21 (Reuters) - European stocks headed lower for a third
straight session on Monday, hit by worries about a surge in
coronavirus cases in the continent and a slide in HSBC and
Standard Chartered following reports alleging the UK lenders of
moving illicit funds.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX fell 1.0% in early
deals, with the Britain's banking-heavy FTSE 100 .FTSE down
1.6%.
Asia-focussed lender HSBC HSBA.L fell 3.2% to its lowest
since March 2009 and Standard Chartered STAN.L dropped 2.9%
after BuzzFeed and other media reports said that they and other
banks moved large sums of allegedly illicit funds over nearly
two decades despite red flags about the origins of the money.
Meanwhile, a report from China's state-run Global Times
suggested that HSBC could be a possible candidate for inclusion
in the country's 'unreliable entity list' that targets foreign
firms which violate Chinese laws or commit "illegal acts". (https:// Europe's banking sector .SX7P , already down about 40% this
year, fell 2.2%.
New coronavirus-led restrictions in Spain and other European
countries and news that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was
pondering a second lockdown in Britain sent Europe's travel and
leisure index .SXTP down 2.5%.