6 bank employees fired for staging mock IS execution video

Six employees of the infamous British bank HSBC were fired this week for making a mock ISIS-style execution video, apparently as part of a training exercise.

One clutched a coat hanger as a fake knife while another held Ahmed by the shoulders. “We apologise for any offence”.

Other activities included in the team building day included driving go-karts.

The bank said the video, which shows six staff members dressed in jumpsuits and balaclavas, was “abhorrent” adding: “We took the decision to sack the individuals involved”.

In a statement an HSBC spokesman said: “We do not tolerate inappropriate behavior”. In the video, one of the men shouts “Allahu Akbar” – Arabic for “God is great”, which is what has been said in some of the ISIS videos showing executions of hostages.

An unnamed source at the bank told the U.K. newspaper the Sun, “It’s shocking they would think this is amusing”.

British taxi driver Alan Henning had skipped Christmas with his family to raise funds to purchase ambulances and medical equipment and join an aid convoy to Syria when he was beheaded by Islamic State militants.

The company has recently been engulfed in a money-laundering scandal and past year was among five banks fined £2billion for rigging foreign exchange markets.

The Guardian reported that the settlement meant that HSBC would not be prosecuted in Switzerland, nor would investigation findings be published.