# Banks laundering terrorist and drug gang money **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 18, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banks-laundering-terrorist-and-drug-gang-money/628576 "2012-07-18T00:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banks-laundering-terrorist-and-drug-gang-money/628576/21 "2012-12-17T22:04:44Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Depends on who can [vouch](http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/101101-0003.htm) for you. You know, based on the language used and the names alone, for a moment there I thought that was some\* Black Adder \*or _Yes, Minister!_ bit I hadn’t seen yet. Fuck me. That being said I can see how, barring such jaw-dropping self-incriminating tidbits, it would be hard to conclusively prove anyone in the bank was knowingly, wilfully laundering cartel or terrorist money. “Oh, come _on_” doesn’t cut it in court, I’m afraid. Just following [del]orders[/del]memos, just doing the math, just compounding the interest, right ? A client’s a client’s a client. Long as it’s all strictly legal, it’s all ethical… right ? [QUOTE=Evil Captor] They are ineffectual now but that’s going to change [/QUOTE] Well ain’t you cute ? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banks-laundering-terrorist-and-drug-gang-money/628576/22 "2012-12-17T23:44:33Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > And the result is no criminal charges and a $1.5 billion fine. What the fuck! > > And HSBC stock actually rose slightly when the fine was announced. > > What’s $1.5 billion to them? A few months’ profit? > > I smell a rat. The Times had an extensive discussion of why there were no criminal charges. IIRC, it would have meant that the bank would not be allowed to do business in many areas, and a bank that big collapsing would have done more harm than good. (No matter how much we’d enjoy the sight.) For banks these days $1.5 billion off the bottom line is nothing to sneeze at. BTW, the indictments weren’t dropped, just delayed. If the bank is caught doing anything like this again, they get filed, and the bank dies. (If convicted, but apparently the evidence is pretty good.) ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banks-laundering-terrorist-and-drug-gang-money/628576/23 "2012-12-21T18:57:10Z")
The only thing HSBC did wrong was forgetting to give the government its 20% vig. Once that’s handed over everything is peachy keen. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banks-laundering-terrorist-and-drug-gang-money/628576/24 "2012-12-22T04:07:44Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The Times had an extensive discussion of why there were no criminal charges. IIRC, it would have meant that the bank would not be allowed to do business in many areas, and a bank that big collapsing would have done more harm than good. (No matter how much we’d enjoy the sight.) For banks these days $1.5 billion off the bottom line is nothing to sneeze at. > BTW, the indictments weren’t dropped, just delayed. If the bank is caught doing anything like this again, they get filed, and the bank dies. (If convicted, but apparently the evidence is pretty good.) I am not accusing YOU of lying, but I don’t believe a word of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banks-laundering-terrorist-and-drug-gang-money/628576/25 "2012-12-22T15:21:33Z")
From Matt Taibbi’s article on the subject: "The banks’ laundering transactions were so brazen that the NSA probably could have spotted them from space. Breuer admitted that drug dealers would sometimes come to HSBC’s Mexican branches and “deposit hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, in a single day, into a single account, using boxes designed to fit the precise dimensions of the teller windows.” This bears repeating: in order to more efficiently move as much illegal money as possible into the “legitimate” banking institution HSBC, drug dealers specifically designed boxes to fit through the bank’s teller windows" [http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke-20121213#ixzz2FnJY3W1M](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke-20121213#ixzz2FnJY3W1M) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banks-laundering-terrorist-and-drug-gang-money/628576.md?page=1)