The key phrase in the "Formal Equivalence" description is "seeks to". While not being a 100% replacement for the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek text, it is considered to be the most literal and best approach that we English speaking Christians can trust.

As for the HCSB. I haven't seen any kind of agenda in it's version of God's Word at least from the limited experience I have had with it so far.

I am not calling for a blanket acceptance to every translation of the Bible that becomes available, but I am open minded enough to examine the other translations in case there is in fact an inaccurate representation of God's Word so we can be aware of it and let others know about it.

My rule of thumb is to go with Formal Equivilence for study.