First sentence

[Kaido]

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12...1-9-billion-settlement-over-money-laundering/

State and federal authorities decided against indicting HSBC in a money-laundering case over concerns that criminal charges could jeopardize one of the world’s largest banks and ultimately destabilize the global financial system.

D:

Note: Not posting this to be a P&N thread.

 

[SandEagle]

its true though

 

[SunnyD]

<Mortal Kombat Voice>Bank Wins! Fatality! FINISH HIM!!!</Mortal Kombat Voice>

 

[blackangst1]

Wow. Too big to prosecute.

 

[drebo]

Yay for bullshit and doublestandards.

 

[Kaido]

Wow. Too big to prosecute.

Kind of crazy, if you think about it - before you had to be the Roman Empire or Hitler to take over the world and destabilize things; now you can just do it electronically. Some of the sources are pretty wild, too:

Despite repeated urgings from federal officials to strengthen protections in its vast Mexican business, HSBC instead viewed the country from 2000 to 2009 as low-risk for money laundering, the Senate report found. Even after HSBC’s Mexican operation transferred more than $7 billion to the United States — a volume that law enforcement officials said had to be “illegal drug proceeds” — lax controls remained.

 

[Ruptga]

This is like refusing to pull an arrow out of someone's gut because the wound will bleed. Everyone knows it, but for some reason this is still going through.

 

[SunnyD]

For anyone keeping score - this is only the tip of the iceberg for HSBC. There's a reason they've become one of the worlds BIGGEST banks - because they don't give a shit about rules.

 

[SMOGZINN]

I for one welcome our new corporate overlords.

Really, when we decide that certain corporations are above the law we have really formed an elite aristocracy.

 

[Wyndru]

Damn, that's crazy.

They actually closed all of their branches in upstate NY last year. I never moved my account, so now I have to go back down to Queens where I opened it do anything with my account that can't be done online.