HSBC Aiding Terrorists and Drug Dealers?
HSBC may have aided terrorists and drug dealers in the ordinary course of business. A Bloomberg report gets into the details. (Click HERE to read it.)
This has been brewing for quite a while, but is only now being reported. How do I know?
I just received a letter my local HSBC branch where I have a small account. This past weekend, I went there to update the ID they had on file, which is what the letter said I had to do or they were going to close the account. The account there was opened three banks ago. Since I opened it, another bank bought the first bank then HSBC bought the most recent bank. The guy who updated my ID told me they had sent out "tons" of similar letters, with lots of people coming in to update their records.
So, obviously, the bank was under pressure to more adequately identify their customers, many of whom were originally customers of other smaller banks.
The reason they're only reporting all this stuff about money-laundering and drug dealing now is that politicians have to get into the act. Carl Levin, Democrat from Michigan, for example, said, “HSBC sets up a U.S. bank affiliate as its gateway into the U.S. financial system and lets its global network of affiliates abuse that gateway." What does he mean "its gateway into the U.S. financial system"? It all sounds so nefarious, doesn't it?
Heck, if this big report had hit the press before I went into the branch this past weekend, I might have been a bit nervous. I mean, who wants to be looked at as a potential money-launderer or drug dealer or even a terrorist. And there I was, all swarthy from my recent tan that I got on vacation. Fortunately I shaved before hitting the branch, or I might have looked like one of those Middle Eastern terrorist types they always have in TV shows. Anyway, I'm assuming I passed the test, because I wasn't arrested or anything. But these days you can't be too sure about what the "authorities" think about you. Everyone's under suspicion. You can't be too safe, right?
Getting back to Levin, he got his name into the spotlight. But how in heaven's name could a huge bank like HSBC not be used for money laundering by terrorists and drug dealers. The fact is, all huge international banks wind up having money laundered through them by all sorts of criminal types. It's virtually impossible to stop this sort of activity.
Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't run a clean bank, and try to stop the sorts of transactions that these money launderers use. But we've all seen TV shows and movies where money gets moved from one part of the world to another through a series of wire transactions - sometimes dozens of transactions - so no one will figure out what's going on. Again, with these humungous international banks that have branches around the world, it's going to happen. Never mind the fact that really sophisticated operations use multiple banks and multiples transactions, all run through sophisticated computer programs.
Heck, if they can hack your personal account and steal your money (as recently happened to a family member), they can certainly launder money through the system.
The article doesn't really say that anyone was complicit in any criminal activity. It just says that the bank wasn't "compliant" - that they were lax in monitoring their systems. OK, so tighten things up.
Then again, Levin's comments about HSBC establishing a gateway into the U.S. financial system certainly adds drama to an otherwise boring story about how a bank wasn't monitoring their systems correctly.
Thank goodness we've got Levin out there looking out for us. I mean with that "gateway" into the U.S. financial system, who knows what HSBC might let these terrorists and drug dealers do if not for Carl Levin keeping an eye on them.
Now that I think of it, maybe I'll go check out that HSBC branch and see who goes in to update their ID. Who knows, maybe I'll see them catch a real money-launderer.
This has been brewing for quite a while, but is only now being reported. How do I know?
I just received a letter my local HSBC branch where I have a small account. This past weekend, I went there to update the ID they had on file, which is what the letter said I had to do or they were going to close the account. The account there was opened three banks ago. Since I opened it, another bank bought the first bank then HSBC bought the most recent bank. The guy who updated my ID told me they had sent out "tons" of similar letters, with lots of people coming in to update their records.
So, obviously, the bank was under pressure to more adequately identify their customers, many of whom were originally customers of other smaller banks.
The reason they're only reporting all this stuff about money-laundering and drug dealing now is that politicians have to get into the act. Carl Levin, Democrat from Michigan, for example, said, “HSBC sets up a U.S. bank affiliate as its gateway into the U.S. financial system and lets its global network of affiliates abuse that gateway." What does he mean "its gateway into the U.S. financial system"? It all sounds so nefarious, doesn't it?
Heck, if this big report had hit the press before I went into the branch this past weekend, I might have been a bit nervous. I mean, who wants to be looked at as a potential money-launderer or drug dealer or even a terrorist. And there I was, all swarthy from my recent tan that I got on vacation. Fortunately I shaved before hitting the branch, or I might have looked like one of those Middle Eastern terrorist types they always have in TV shows. Anyway, I'm assuming I passed the test, because I wasn't arrested or anything. But these days you can't be too sure about what the "authorities" think about you. Everyone's under suspicion. You can't be too safe, right?
Getting back to Levin, he got his name into the spotlight. But how in heaven's name could a huge bank like HSBC not be used for money laundering by terrorists and drug dealers. The fact is, all huge international banks wind up having money laundered through them by all sorts of criminal types. It's virtually impossible to stop this sort of activity.
Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't run a clean bank, and try to stop the sorts of transactions that these money launderers use. But we've all seen TV shows and movies where money gets moved from one part of the world to another through a series of wire transactions - sometimes dozens of transactions - so no one will figure out what's going on. Again, with these humungous international banks that have branches around the world, it's going to happen. Never mind the fact that really sophisticated operations use multiple banks and multiples transactions, all run through sophisticated computer programs.
Heck, if they can hack your personal account and steal your money (as recently happened to a family member), they can certainly launder money through the system.
The article doesn't really say that anyone was complicit in any criminal activity. It just says that the bank wasn't "compliant" - that they were lax in monitoring their systems. OK, so tighten things up.
Then again, Levin's comments about HSBC establishing a gateway into the U.S. financial system certainly adds drama to an otherwise boring story about how a bank wasn't monitoring their systems correctly.
Thank goodness we've got Levin out there looking out for us. I mean with that "gateway" into the U.S. financial system, who knows what HSBC might let these terrorists and drug dealers do if not for Carl Levin keeping an eye on them.
Now that I think of it, maybe I'll go check out that HSBC branch and see who goes in to update their ID. Who knows, maybe I'll see them catch a real money-launderer.
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