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Remember the old American Express commercial that began with "Hi, you probably don't know me..." How many people recognize this guy? His name is Everett Stern... still nothing? In a just world this man's revelations would have toppled one of the most corrupt financial institutions the world has ever seen- in fact, one that was created for one express purpose- money laundering. It may also have spared Americans the likes of Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, James Comey and Robert Mueller. But let's go back a little bit in time.
HSBC (Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corp.) was founded in 1865 at the end of the 2nd Opium War. It's purpose was to launder drug money for the Crown of England. Like the Petrodollar today, the British Pound Sterling was the world reserve currency. The British Empire wanted silks, tea and other goods from the orient so they fought a war after which China was forced to legalize drugs- opium in particular. The Crown needed a way to launder this "dirty money," and HSBC was created for that purpose... they haven't changed one iota to this day, despite getting caught numerous times. The only real difference between then and now, is that although they're still headquartered in London, they have subsidiaries all over the world. Fast forward to 2006.
Between 2003-2006 HSBC was suspected of violating the money-laundering statutes and they entered into a written agreement with US regulators to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act. In banking terms this is known as "I promise not to do it again" (fingers crossed behind back). Then between 2006-2010 they were caught money-laundering again, mostly through HSBC USA and HSBC Mexico. Actually, they way it was parsed was that they didn't actually get charged with money-laundering per se, they didn't have "adequate anti-money laundering" mechanisms in place. There were four stated failures:
"1. HSBC failed to obtain and maintain due diligence on HSBC Group Affiliates.
HSBC failed to adequately monitor over $200 trillion in wire transfers between 2006 and 2009 from customers in nations classified as “standard” or “medium” risk ($670 billion in wire transfers specifically from HSBC Mexico).
HSBC Bank USA failed to adequately monitor billions of dollars in U.S. banknote purchases.
HSBC Bank USA failed to provide proper staffing and resources necessary to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program."
HSBC was fined $1.256 Billion, a considerable amount- but in reality, probably a month's worth of profit. This is also when our hero Everett Stern comes on the scene, but we'll get to him later. As is customary in these cases, HSBC switched CEO's, the new CEO apologized for "past mistakes," and "promised to do better in the future." This is the "we promise to never, never do it again." Before we get on to bigger and better scams, let's go to our other cast of characters (In addition to our hero Everett).
Us Atty. General Eric Holder defended his decision not to prosecute, because it may have affected his ability to run guns to the Mexican drug cartels... no wait a minute, that's not what he said: "In March of 2013, Attorney General Eric Holder defended the U.S. government’s decision not to pursue criminal prosecution of HSBC by claiming that prosecution of such large institutions has a negative impact on the national economy." US Atty. for the District of New York, Loretta Lynch agreed to turn a blind eye and low and behold, who should be nominated to take Eric Holder's place in Washington at the head of the DOJ. HSBC hires on their Board of Directors, former Lockheed-Martin in-house counsel James Comey (and Clinton Syndicate soldier) to assist their present attorney, Robert Mueller. Any of these guys sound vaguely familiar?
Holder's decision not to prosecute is said to have had a Utilitarian motive... "Under a traditional utilitarian view, then, the Justice Department’s decision not to criminally prosecute HSBC officials seems sound, as a larger portion of society benefits from HSBC maintaining operations (not to mention the number of saved jobs) and keeping the economy from further suffering in already difficult financial times." And, there is an element of truth here... look at all the Mexicans on both side of the border employed by the cartels- not to mention the American "undocumented pharmacists" and their millions of customers who depend on regular shipments from south of the border. Had not Holder been such a humanitarian, he could have really messed things up for a lot of people... and don't forget Fast and Furious- remember the US is the largest weapons dealer in the world and drug running can be a very dangerous business. We're talking about massive profits here, and we're not only talking about drugs- there's another even more nefarious element at play as well.
"One of the bank's bigger customers, for instance, was Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi bank, which had been linked by the CIA and other government agencies to terrorism. According to a document cited in a Senate report, one of the bank's founders, Sulaiman bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi, was among 20 early financiers of Al Qaeda, a member of what Osama bin Laden himself apparently called the "Golden Chain." In 2003, the CIA wrote a confidential report about the bank, describing Al Rajhi as a "conduit for extremist finance." In the report, details of which leaked to the public by 2007, the agency noted that Sulaiman Al Rajhi consciously worked to help Islamic "charities" hide their true nature, ordering the bank's board to "explore financial instruments that would allow the bank's charitable contributions to avoid official Saudi scrutiny." (The bank has denied any role in financing extremists.)" That's right, international terrorism... in addition to drugs, HSBC is one of the favorite banking establishments for terrorists. (This is from the article in Rolling Stone- see link) It looks like our boy Everett was really on to something... So what happened?
Well of course, Everett was fired and found it impossible to find a job after turning whistleblower- No good deed ever goes unpunished. Eric Holder is still around considering a 2020 run for the presidency. Loretta Lynch became US Atty. General and according to what I've read, would have replaced Ruth Bader Ginsburg on SCOTUS had Hillary been elected. James Comey became head of the FBI and has written a book (probably to help with legal costs after he's indicted). Robert Mueller, DC's favorite political hitman, is scurrying around Washington looking for Russians willing to testify against the President. Oh, I almost forgot... HSBC is doing business as usual after "promising to never, never, never, do it again."
https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/hsbc-money-laundering-case-too-big-to-fail-does-not-mean-too-big-to-jail/
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/gangster-bankers-too-big-to-jail-20130214