Mexican drug cartels, banks close to Al Qaeda, even the Iranian regime. If it hadn't already fallen, perhaps, there would also be the Stalinist Soviet Union on the list of enemies of America who have used the services of Hsbc. The prestigious British Bank is accused by an embarrassing 300-page report prepared by the United States Congress. During a session of the Senate congressional commission, the leaders of the institute tried to justify themselves. It will not have been easy, given that there are no coins at stake, but a mountain of money that would be enough for a handful of Italian financial institutions.
Let's start with the affectionate bond between HSBC and the narcos. Between 2007 and 2009 something like 7 billion dollars passed through the Bank's accounts, probably attributable to Central American drug merchants. An Anglo-Mexican partnership that apparently had the sole purpose of laundering the money produced by drug trafficking.
An even more lasting relationship – from 2001 to 2007 – is the one which in the past united His Majesty's institute to Tehran dictatorship. In this case we are even talking about transactions for 17 billion dollars. And to round off the anti-friendship fair, HSBC did not miss a Saudi bank in the hands of a well-known sympathizer of the most famous terrorist association in the world.
The US didn't like it. US investigators therefore accuse HSBC of failing to carry out the necessary checks, agreeing to do business with all these nasty people. Congress also brought up European supervisory bodies. The head of the Bank's control committee, David Beagley, has resigned. But that's not enough. After the bad impression, there's a fine on the way.
