The reporting season in the banking sector continued this week with Standard Chartered ( LON:STAN ), Royal Bank of Scotland ( LON:RBS ) and HSBC ( LON:HSBA ) unveiling their interim results. HSBC reported a significant increase in half-yearly profits and announced that it will set aside US$700 million to cover any costs resulting from the recent money laundering scandal in the US. This week's interim report from the banking group showed that pre-tax profits increased 11 percent to US$12.7 billion compared with the same period of 2011 due to asset sale proceeds of US$4.3 billion and a strong performance in Asia. HSBC highlighted an increase of US$1.3 billion in pre-tax profits in the Hong Kong and Rest of Asia Pacific regions, which accounted for nearly two thirds of group total.