London – 6 HSBC Employees Fired After Video Staging Mock ISIS-Style Excution

London – HSBC has fired six employees who staged a mock Islamic State group-style killing during a team-building exercise.

The Sun newspaper reported Tuesday the footage posted online showed five workers wearing overalls and balaclavas laughing as a South Asian colleague wearing an orange jumpsuit knelt at their feet.

One held a coat hanger as a pretend knife while another held the kneeling man by the shoulders. One employee then yells “Allahu Akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great” — a phrase often used before IS hostages are slain.

The employees were on a team building exercise in Birmingham, central England, when they made the film. “This is an abhorrent video and HSBC would like to apologize for any offense caused,” a spokeswoman said.

The video shows five people in black jumpsuits and balaclavas pretending to behead another man who is kneeling in an orange jumpsuit. They use a coat hanger as a pretend knife.

The Sun said the video was posted on Instagram and later deleted.

It adds to a string of conduct problems at HSBC and other banks. The industry is trying to rebuild its reputation after scandals ranging from the rigging of interest rates and currency markets to mis-selling of insurance products.

On the ‘Our Values’ page of its website, HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver says: “By setting the highest standards of behavior our aim is that all of our employees and customers can be proud of our business.”

HSBC says in a statement it had fired those involved in the “abhorrent” video as soon as the Sun brought it to their attention. The company apologized for any offense the video caused.