A former Eastern District judge erred when he asserted supervisory powers over a deferred prosecution agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and HSBC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said Wednesday.

The former judge, Debevoise & Plimpton partner John Gleeson, oversaw the case against the U.S. subsidiary of the British-based bank for allowing the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars of illegal money through accounts it held.

On top of $1.9 billion in penalties paid by the bank, Gleeson signed off on a deferred prosecution agreement in July 2013, but gave himself “novel” powers to review the progress of the agreement's stipulations, which were overseen by a monitor.