HSBC: The World’s Money Laundering Bank?

As the current US Senate investigation continues to uncover HSBC’s been laundering money of dubious clients, will Europe’s largest bank be now known as the: “World’s money laundering bank”? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Well, I was really surprised when the BBC aired a news item in July 17, 2012 that uncovered that HSBC – the: “World’s local bank” – according to their adverts are engaging in money laundering for over ten years according to a recently released report by a US Senate investigation. A US senator who led the investigation even said that the corporate culture at HSBC is “pervasively polluted”. The bulk of the money laundering investigation primarily focused on HSBC American arm laundering the drug / narco profits of Mexican drug cartels – which was recently uncovered to be as much as 7-billion US dollars between 2007 and 2008. Will this recent money laundering investigation be the ruin of the “world’s local bank”? 

Given that HSBC primarily deals with private clients, the recent US Senate investigation could be quite damning to the reputation of Europe’s largest bank due to the fact that the investigation also uncovered that HSBC’s regulators failed to take action. Other “suspicious funds” are also under investigation – including suspected Al Qaeda sourced funds that date back 10-years ago and scores of “secret financial dealings” with states currently under UN sanctions like Iran and Syria.