A CRIME WITH NO PUNISHMENT!

A CRIME WITH NO PUNISHMENT!

(Aljazeera/Frazer Chronicle)

It sounds kinda funny doesn't it, I mean the title of this blog, let’s see, there's lots of crime going on in the world with nothing more than a slap on the wrist as punishment. Probably 90% involves banking or the lending institutions, you never hear much about them because there's no punishment, or people say something like, "oh, it's just the bankers, or Wall Street, and their crooked anyways." Well booby, buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

HSBC has brought the banking world.....again.....back to the US Senate chambers to be grilled for misdeeds and money laundering. I am in no way an economist, nor understand the inner workings of the banking industry, but I can read, I can listen to the radio and I can watch television.

I'm sure that many of you, like me, didn't even know what HSBC stands for, I thought it was a "spin-off" of Household Finance Corporation.....but it's not, HSBC stands for Hong Kong&Shanghai Banking Corporation. It makes billions of dollars in profit every year, and moves trillions more around the world, apparently not choosing its customers very well.

Top HSBC officials are appearing before the Senate today to acknowledge their shortcomings in their anti-money laundering operations. David Bagley, (former) head of compliance resigned that position, "but" will simply be moved to another post within the government, or will return to the private sector.

Laundering drug money from the Mexican drug lords was.....and is a dangerous business, but the worst part of the situation is that it, "laundering" money from these people perpetuates the sale of illegal all sorts of stuff on the streets of America.

A yearlong inquiry by the United States government said that HSBC routinely acted as a financier to clients routing money from the world's most dangerous regions, including, Mexico, Iran and Syria. Apparently these bankers didn't know that drug cartels and families have guns, ammunition, and are more than willing to shoot anybody.

BANKING SCANDALS ARE NOTHING NEW:

The world banking business has had its share of scandals, and of course are too numerous to list here, suffice it to say, "the industry has been over-run with its share of business practices that are.....well, dubious, to say the least."

From price fixing, to jimmying credit rates and interest rates, to taking bad money, obtained through all sorts of illegal business dealings and practices, and turning it (money) into clean ready to use legal tender.

Banking scandals, down through the decades has wrought tremendous hardships and difficulties onto the regular unsuspecting customer. Everybody has heard about the stock market crash of 1929 and read what the action of bankers and their lending departments did.

Through all the scandals, all the dark shadowy practices, very few banking officials have been held accountable for their misdeeds. Some have been fired, while others are simply transferred to another branch within the bank, or transplanted to another state.

REGULATORS, SMEGULATORS:

The real problem with this illegal stuff going on is the bank regulators, a department within our government. They have cozied up to the bankers, have refused to regulate and have turned a blind eye to the industry. Lax control.....over at least the past 8 years, has brought billions upon billions back to the Mexican drug lords, helping them to make more secure their operations.

Poor systems to detect misappropriate activity were ignored, whistle blowers were summarily demoted, fired or simply or simply ignored. People in high places have been turning their heads with regards to the problem that has been created over time; many of these people stand to lose millions of dollars paid out in bonuses, or under the table payments.

HSBC had a net income last year of $16.8 billion, operates in 80 countries around the world, and is one of the top banks in the United States, with assets of more than $210 billion in its U.S. operations. It has used its U.S. operations as a "gateway" into U.S. markets.

Regulators must get a handle on the bank, at least here in the United States, I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't want even a penny of my money going to support terrorists or the drug industry of some 3^rd world country.

Time to "clean it up boys," let's face the facts of life, this kind of profit, this kind of payoffs hurts even those people who get a bit of the "blow-by" of the money. We need first to clean up our own "users" before we can get to the next business on our agenda, smashing these folks who launder dirty money.

We need to punish these people for their crimes, we need to toughen our laws.....and get the job done on drug trafficking, and the cover-up.

WE NEED TO BE AWARE!