HSBC said on Monday that the United States authorities were preparing to dismiss criminal charges against the bank, five years after it reached an agreement to avoid prosecution related to lapses in its money-laundering controls.

In 2012, the bank, one of the world’s biggest lenders, paid $1.9 billion and entered into a so-called deferred prosecution agreement as part of a settlement with state and federal authorities. The deal — four years after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers nearly brought down the financial system — was criticized at the time, raising concerns about whether some banks had grown too big to face criminal indictment.

The Justice Department had accused HSBC of not using proper systems to catch money laundering, allowing at least $881 million in proceeds from the sale of illegal drugs to flow through the American financial system.

Prosecutors also said at the time that the bank had enabled the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to countries facing United States sanctions, including Cuba and Iran.