Bank to pay record money-laundering fine

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
12/11/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Bank found to be moving money in violation of sanctions.

The British-based Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) has been fined �1.9 billion as part of a settlement following a money-laundering probe by U.S. authorities. The investigation revealed the bank moved billions of dollars on the behalf of blacklisted groups such as Iran and Mexican drug cartels.

HSBC has acknowledged its mistake and will pay a settlement to the U.S. government.

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WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Following the investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, HSBC admitted there had been a breakdown of controls and will now pay a forfeiture of $1.25 billion and $655 in civil penalties to the U.S. government.

This is the largest such forfeiture in history from a bank to the U.S. government.

According to authorities, HSBC handled money on behalf of clients working for Mexican drug cartels as well as moving money between Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the Cayman Islands. Moving those monies was prohibited by both U.S. and British law.

Iran, in particular, is under tight sanctions to discourage further development of its suspected nuclear weapons program. The sanctions imposed by the international community have effectively crippled that nation's economy, forcing its government to find more creative, and sometimes illegal means of transacting business sin international markets.

"We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again. The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organisation from the one that made those mistakes," Stuart Gulliver, the bank's CEO said in a statement released on Tuesday.

HSBC is also expected to reach a settlement with British authorities for the same offense.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered, another British bank is under investigation. According to the US Treasury, Standard Chartered will pay $327 million to settle charges leveled against it concerning money transfers between Iran, Myanmar, Libya, and Sudan.

� 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: HSBC, bank, money-laundering, Iran, drug cartels

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1 - 2 of 2 Comments

Paul-Emile Leray
5 months ago
I made one mistake in my last posting: St. Thomas More ought to also have been mentionned. The corruption in banks, oil corporations, politics, in England is an insult to St. Thomas More and William Shakespeare. Research the dates of Henry VIII, St. Thomas More, and Shakespeare. If human nature and his-story keeps repeating, over and over again, it is proof we are the most stupid species (collectively speaking) on this planet. It truly takes a magical sort of delusional type of thinking to believe in the big bang and yet fail to see that nothing bangs without having something to bang in the first place. I think Aristotle would have used the words "unmoved Mover" to explain this. However, in the 21st C., it seems as if people are too smart for this type of language. Many would rather enslave themselves to cult-ure, moral relativism, ideologies, utilitarianism, political correctness, and so forth. Meanwhile, the comedic tragedies continue as the world spins. Once again, the biggest cult of all is what? Cult-ure.
Paul-Emile Leray
Paul-Emile Leray
5 months ago
Why is it that when small private entrepreneurs make mistakes, they risk going out of business and losing much of their own money; yet I bet I'm accurate in stating that hedge fund managers, bankers, lawyers, politicians, top level bureaucrats who make mistakes still end up getting paid very well with little to no damage to their own personal portfolios? I shouldn't be surprised, they all come out of the same schools and didn't study to learn 'educare' but rather to learn 'instruction' in 'how to bleed people legally'. Now, I seem to remember from a philosophy class years ago that it was a large mistake to equate morality with legality. And now, I will remind myself that every human dies regardless of how rich they are and therefore I feel just fine. It gives me great joy knowing Adolf Hitler and King Henry VIII, along with a few Popes involved with the Cadaver Synod; are DEAD. I love the fact that God put into the equation life and death. It makes me feel JOYOUS! Enjoy your prozac, your psycho-babbling sessions, your cocktail phony parties filled with egomaniacs, and your sophistry. And then, I'll enjoy seeing you lying on ice inside coffins while eulogies are passing you off as saints by yet another hypocrite...the minister celebrating who possibly went into religion to escape from having to earn money while taking his own risks as well. I'm an HSBC client and was not impressed how I was treated recently and not because of the lower level on the chain of command customer service people; who do not know what the upper level people are doing. There is a communication problem between banks, because of top management. It seems to be chaos! Aggravate me again and I'll show you how to drain water out of a bathtub; the water being symbolic to money and parallel the tub with the bank. Most of you execs are psychotics who ought to be JAILED!!! You blood thirsty poisonous savages in suits. No wonder a Jesuit priest once asked a Harvard graduate: what did you learn in Harvard, how to eat your enemy with a fork and knife while dressed in a tuxedo? This is the soft version. The hard version will have you go into states of anxiety seeing you lying in the fetal position inside your office towers as you are throwing up your past evening's cocktails; you vile selfish parasites! The best thing to come out of England was Shakespeare, a great literary genius and fine Catholic. (but most modern day academics are too stupid to make parallels between the Bible and Shakespeare's many plays; that's another thing they don't teach in inferior places of instruction such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and so forth; it was an Oxford graduate and towering intellectual who mentionned something similar). Now, I understand why Einstein wasn't very good at school at one point. He was smarter than the entire system and those who designed it. Right? Right. This also explains why Miles Davis dropped out of Julliard, Speilberg did fine before finishing his degree and so did several others. I have white skin, I almost throw up when I see a white skinned savage from Euro-centric backgrounds wearing a suit. I'm being blunt and honest. Because most of you are too selfish to sacrifice, you'll end up going extinct anyhow since look at your birth-rates in Europe. Imagine, a planet without white skinned savages in the future. Well, Jesus likely didn't have white skin. Why not have caucasians go extinct? It might be a good thing! Look at all the psychotics who came out of Europe! The sun never sets on the British Empire? I would not be proud of that. That alone is proof of savagery. And you people are cult-ured? Yes, you are cult-ured. The biggest cult of all is just that: CULT-URE. I believe it was Abraham Maslov who had a few words concerning this subject matter. True? True. What is most important: Christianity OR nationalism? Aha! Christianity. WEAK stupid people are nationalists at all costs. Therefore, I will follow a path of honesty instead of being a cheerleading idiot for countries from which my genetic lines come from. I have white skin and it is white people I trust the least! Being from Europe, a white caucasion savage male in a suit with a university degree? I tend to get nervous. If from North America? I get nervous as well. Why? Experiential knowledge is just that, it is based on EXPERIENCE. Now, back to reminding myself of how happy it makes me feel knowing that all of you will one day end up as what one Mexican Jesuit wrote: "future worm food". What is King Henry VIII in charge of these days? Nothing! And if any Canadian inferior IQ school teacher ever forces any children to sing God save the queen? I'll turn that teacher's SOPHISTRY and propaganda and ideological politically correct nonsense upside down and inside out and lazer it back into the depths of their souls with great joy. Education? Instruction? Indoctrination? Unfortunately, there isn't too much "educare" anymore. That is very sad. It's mostly all "how to" or "what to do" these days. Life is beautiful. And death is also wonderful. And if anyone has an issue with that, don't take the subject up with an imbecile like me. Ask God. Complain to him about it. Either way, reality is reality and it is beautiful seeing tyrants and sophists, savages in suits, politicians, kings, queens, die. Very humbling. Very encouraging! Was it old Henry Ford who once stated that if the common man knew how the banking system really worked, he feared there would be a revolution by the following day? Or, was it someone else who said this? Perhaps someone could research it. Does it make people feel that secure working for banks? Or, having the queen smile at you? Or, being told the government is taking care of you? Or, a unionized job? What kind of a weak, stupid, sap needs all that to give him a sense of security? I feel LESS secure when administrations and bureaucracies are too large. I feel LESS secure when politicians open their mouths. I feel less secure with unions and bureaucracies. I would NEVER wish to have job security at all costs, since it would potentially result in me becoming a dull dimwitted indifferent paycheck to paycheck frightened corporate worshipping fool. I think most of them are USELESS security seeking cubicly encased zoo-keeper pleasers who are grovelling for bananas after having surrendered their free will to enslave themselves to the system. Most went to university to end up inside a cubicle inside an office tower (jail cell inside a prison) under the ILLUSION they are free. Politically correct weak boss and shareholder pleasing saps who know little to nothing about true leadership! Why? Because they are not interested in sacrifice, but rather are selfish egotistical self serving maniacs; on other peoples' money. And, they get paid whether they make money or lose money. Is that ethical? Is that moral? As one Jesuit wrote, "the law is an ass". Laws are immoral, often. Any clear thinking human ought to have figured that out by now. It is unbelievable how ASLEEP the great majority of the herd is these days. Public relations, marketing, some stupid slogan and advertising campaign for this and that: there must be many fools on this planet if all that is still working. There is but ONE savior, Jesus. The rest of you, including the so called masters of the universe in the financial world? You have a head on your shoulders, you intake liquids and food through one hole and excrete these through a number of other holes; then you'll die like every other organism. Get over it. You too are bipeds with original sin and therefore a human condition. And all your money won't help you escape death. Take the issue up with God, not me. I'm an idiot as well.
Paul-Emile Leray

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