This is several months old, but a "must read" by Matt Taibbi
@ Rolling Stone:
The deal was announced quietly, just before the holidays, almost like
the government was hoping people were too busy hanging stockings by the fireplace to notice.
Flooring politicians, lawyers and investigators all
over the world, the U.S. Justice Department granted a total walk to
executives of the British-based bank HSBC for the largest
drug-and-terrorism money-laundering case ever. Yes, they issued a fine –
$1.9 billion, or about five weeks' profit – but they didn't extract so
much as one dollar or one day in jail from any individual, despite a
decade of stupefying abuses.
People may have outrage fatigue about Wall Street, and more stories
about billionaire greedheads getting away with more stealing often cease
to amaze. But the HSBC case went miles beyond the usual paper-pushing,
keypad-punching sort-of crime, committed by geeks in ties, normally
associated with Wall Street. In this case, the bank literally got away
with murder – well, aiding and abetting it, anyway.
Read the rest HERE.
