Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. says it has failed to find a tape containing confidential customer information that was discovered missing on June 19 but not reported until Wednesday.

Both the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data have been informed.

The HKMA said it is taking an extremely dim view of the situation and has asked HSBC to submit an investigation report. The bank has also been ordered to promptly inform the customers concerned.

"The HKMA will examine the matter in detail once the report is available as well as take appropriate supervisory action," a spokesman said.

HSBC said it lost the tape while it was being sent from Guangzhou to Hong Kong.

"Fifty-five tapes were dispatched, but only 54 arrived in Hong Kong. It is a backup tape that contains a total of 25,000 recorded calls."

It was the second time this year for HSBC to lose an item containing confidential customer information. In May, it lost a server carrying customer data at a branch under renovation in Kwun Tong.

"The bank would like to apologize to customers and callers for any concern this incident may have caused," HSBC said. "Customers will not be liable for any financial loss arising from any fraudulent activities as a result of this incident."

The lender said the missing tape contained records of calls made between April 18 and April 24. The calls were related to "credit card inquiries, business internet banking for commercial customers, and general outbound calls to customers." It will advise affected customers once they have been identified.