Financial Transparency Coalition

Two pieces of pretty good news about anti-money laundering enforcement came out of HSBC this week. You might recall that earlier this year, a U.S. Senate investigation uncovered incredibly lax money laundering enforcement at the bank, including close ties to organized crime.

Since 1979, but particularly after the invasion of Iran by Iraq, the United States has imposed sanctions against Iran. Whether or not those sanctions are justified or sufficient is not up for discussion, but rather the integrity of American laws and decisions is. Standard Chartered, ING, and HSBC have been circumventing American laws and foreign policy decisions through their lack of transparency and the deliberate lapse of any and all anti-money laundering systems. Although it is normal to automatically place the blame on the banks, perhaps the blame needs to be distributed in a more representative manner. It is true...

Over the past six months, various arms of the law in the United States have significantly increased their anti-money laundering enforcement actions. The centerpiece of these actions have been fines to ING, Standard Chartered, and an anticipated forthcoming action against HSBC. Other banks, and even Wal-Mart, could be targeted in the near future as well.

WASHINGTON, DC – The allegations levied yesterday by the New York State Department of Financial Services against British banking giant Standard Chartered demonstrate a systemic, widespread pattern of disregard for anti-money laundering policies at one of the world’s biggest banks, according to Global Financial Integrity, a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization.