81–90 of 118 posts
> In the case of HSBC, cost-cutting as part of a wide-ranging restructuring of the bank - through selling unprofitable businesses and centralizing its global structure - took a toll on the bank's compliance department.
Is this satire? Perhaps the reason the Sinaloa cartel sold all those drugs was because, in centralizing their organizational structure, they laid off the guy who reminds everyone to plant corn instead of coca.
> Why Did These Transgressions Come About? > In the case of HSBC, cost-cutting as part of a wide-ranging restructuring of the bank - through selling unprofitable businesses and centralizing its global structure - took a toll on the bank's compliance department. Is this satire? Perhaps the reason the Sinaloa cartel sold all those drugs was because, in centralizing their organizational structure, they laid off the guy…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is complicated, for many reasons. A very important one is that responsibility is very diluted. - A bank executive opens an account to a seemingly legit company. - The compliance department OKs the account opening. - A bank teller receives 50k USD in cash every month. - Another teller receives another 50k USD in cash every month. - The head of the branch doesn't report strange activity. - The AML system by the bank…
Do you make the CEO responsible even though she probably had no idea that this was going on? You send the CEO to prison because they're responsible for what happens under them. CEOs always say they get paid so much because they're the ones bearing ultimate responsibility, so off to jail you go.
> HSBC was founded after the second of the Opium Wars, by which time the trade was already well established. The founders included several opium traders who recognised the profitable banking opportunities presented by the new market.
https://taxjustice.net/2015/02/27/hsbc-and-the-worlds-oldest...
They’ve been in the thick of it since forever, unrelentingly.
https://www.cadtm.org/HSBC-the-bank-with-a-shameful-past
https://unpublishedarticles.com/hsbc-hong-kong-shanghai-bank...
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I hadn't heard of that. I know casinos had been a good way to launder money (buy $100,000 worth of chips, lose $5,000, cash out for $95,000), but I think they caught on to that.
The best way today is to give the money to friends and family and then have them give it back to you as a gift. Gift income is legitimate, the IRS can’t go challenge the people and ask where they got the money to give to you.
Isn't that what the IRS very much does?
You're moving the risk to your "friends".
Or more likely, to a bunch of mules you found on the internet who want to believe that they have a job sending money back and forth.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is complicated, for many reasons. A very important one is that responsibility is very diluted. - A bank executive opens an account to a seemingly legit company. - The compliance department OKs the account opening. - A bank teller receives 50k USD in cash every month. - Another teller receives another 50k USD in cash every month. - The head of the branch doesn't report strange activity. - The AML system by the bank…
Do you make the CEO responsible even though she probably had no idea that this was going on? You send the CEO to prison because they're responsible for what happens under them. CEOs always say they get paid so much because they're the ones bearing ultimate responsibility, so off to jail you go.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is complicated, for many reasons. A very important one is that responsibility is very diluted. - A bank executive opens an account to a seemingly legit company. - The compliance department OKs the account opening. - A bank teller receives 50k USD in cash every month. - Another teller receives another 50k USD in cash every month. - The head of the branch doesn't report strange activity. - The AML system by the bank…
Then by that logic, the drug runner should not be jailed either, as they too are a victim rather than an accomplice. May be they too are being threatened by the cartel to cooperate, and so on. Taken far enough, you really can't penalize anyone and things like sanctions don't work and have no teeth.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm surprised that you'd bring up BCCI in this instance, an institution absolutely steeped in intelligence spookery. Refer to The Outlaw Bank by Jonathan Beaty. HSBC was founded to finance the Opium wars in China in the 19th century. Let's be adults here, the world's biggest banks aren't letting drug trade profits, the world's most lucrative trade, simply fall to small fries. They own it.
Global size of illicit drug economy: $360 billion Global size of FX market: $7.5 trillion per day It's not small money, but it's not that big compared to financial markets.
Going off a UN report from the 90s, the illicit drug trade is similar to international trade in oil and gas—that's the order we're talking about. Remember this is a commodity, so it's a bit misleading to compare it the flow of money in foreign exchange markets.
UNDCP Technical Series Number 6:ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The best way today is to give the money to friends and family and then have them give it back to you as a gift. Gift income is legitimate, the IRS can’t go challenge the people and ask where they got the money to give to you.
> the IRS can’t go challenge the people and ask where they got the money to give to you Isn't that what the IRS very much does? You're moving the risk to your "friends". Or more likely, to a bunch of mules you found on the internet who want to believe that they have a job sending money back and forth.
That said; banks have to report any transaction that's large ($10,000 is it?), no matter to whom. I'd add "even if it's a gift" although I only suspect that's true.
The unfortunate outcomes of these events is that, like a ratchet, it just gets harder and harder for ordinary citizens to go about their lives. It used to be that you could just walk into a bank and open an account on the spot. And it's still like that in many developing countries. It's now at the point that just having a bank account is becoming an asset in itself. It's an increasingly major process to open one, and…
> It's an increasingly major process to open one No disagreements with your post otherwise, but I haven’t found this to be the case personally. I’ve opened two bank accounts in the past year without much hassle - one a joint account at a big bank with my partner that we were able to do fairly painlessly from our house. (Opening account in her name was online, but then we had to call in for someone to manually add me…
All the ones I've encountered incorrectly state that they require Social Security Numbers by law. The law only requires that they have a numerical identifier, so a state ID/license should work as it apparently did in your case.
Edit: I guess the downvotes are for assuming everyone's in the U.S., sorry!