Elizabeth Warren: Questions No Criminal Charges Recommended Banks Laundering Money
During the most recent session of the United States Senate Committee on Banking Hearing, Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat senator from Massachusetts, reported on the illegal activities of HSBC; formerly The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world. It serves around 60 million customers through four Global Businesses.
According to its web site, HSBC, the British financial company describes itself as:
“An unrivalled international network with a presence in all of the world’s major developed and faster-growing markets…”
Last December, 2012, HSBC admitted to laundering nearly one billion US dollars for Colombian and Mexican drug cartels; additionally the company was found to have repeatedly violated US economic sanctions against Iran, Cuba, Libya, the Sudan as well as Burma, known as Myanmar. The US Treasury Department imposed a fine, recorded as the the largest fine ever imposed by the department for HSBC’s illicit actions.
Senator Warren questioned one witness at the hearing, David Cohen, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, United States Department of the Treasury, as to his opinion on what other punitive action might have been taken because the banking company, along with other banks, has repeatedly violated the regulations concerning money laundering.
The answer came from Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as to what more could be done to repeat offender banking firms:
Civil prosecution never interferes with criminal prosecution. The Treasury Department does not make recommendations to the Department of Justice as to who should be prosecuted for banking violations…especially when the bank is one with total assets of $2.637 trillion and has a significant presence in the world’s major finacial markets. No individual will be held accountable for the decisions to launder money for drug cartels.
If the US government takes money laundering very seriously why did not the Department of Justice file criminal charges against HSBC, and other banks, found to be in violation of the government’s regulations for violating economic sanctions and laundering money for notorious drug cartels? Why not go after the individuals who made the decisions to go forward with the illegitimate actions again and again?
If , indeed, the US government takes money laundering very seriously why did not the regulatory bodies, Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, United States Department of the Treasury, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System make suggestions to the United States Department of Justice to hold certain individuals in leadership roles accountable for the disrespectful breach of the rules?
We agree with Senator Warren the disparity between punishment for big banking companies for breaking the law and the punishment for Jane or John Q. Public is simply fundamentally wrong.
Recently
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.