3/19/13, "New world order: everybody gets treated like a criminal," UK Telegraph, Janet Daley
"Can you see the pattern yet? In Cyprus, everybody with a bank account is going to have a portion of his savings confiscated by the government (or maybe not, if they have a small enough amount of money in the bank to be officially excused from the cull). This fit of kleptocracy is supposed to be justified by the large numbers of Russian money launderers and currency smugglers who are known to be using Cypriot banks as a haven for their illicit cash.
So what if you are a blameless resident of that island who happens to have your life savings in a national bank? Or an expat Brit who thought that the country with its sunny weather and low cost of living might be a welcome retirement option – and so parked your pension income in what you assumed to be a safe local spot? Tough. As far as the EU and the Cyprus government are concerned, you are indistinguishable from the rich corrupt Russians who seem to be – for some odd reason – unidentifiable in any way that would make them eligible for legitimate prosecution. The idea that they – the Russian criminals – might be traced, and duly stung for the sort of proportionate contribution that would make this shocking, across-the-board seizure of private capital unnecessary doesn't seem to have occurred to anybody. Even though much of this Russian cash is almost certainly from corrupt or illegal sources, nobody seems to want to bother to pursue the criminals and confiscate the proceeds of their crimes. Presumably that's too slow and complex a process. So much simpler just to penalise everybody....
Instead of enforcing existing laws, we create a new one which hinders the actions of those who have no record of committing any offence. Instead of identifying and seizing the profits of international currency syndicates who store their cash in private banks, we just whack everybody who happens to have an honest savings account. You can expect to see a lot more of this hasty, indiscriminate pursuit of the law-abiding: for a sloppy, ineffectual political class, it can be a very convenient solution to a whole panoply of complex problems." via Lucianne
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7/16/12, "HSBC Helped Terrorists, Iran, Mexican Drug Cartels Launder Money, Senate Report Says," Forbes, Fontevecchia
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7/16/12, "Senate report: HSBC 'allowed drug money laundering'," BBC
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HSBC again caught in criminal money laundering:
3/18/13, "HSBC faces new money laundering claims in Argentina," BBC
"Banking giant HSBC, which was hit with a US fine for money laundering last year, is facing fresh accusations of illegal activity in Argentina.
Argentina has alleged that the bank used "fake receipts" to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion, and launder 392m pesos ($77m; £50m).
The country's tax authority said it had filed criminal charges against HSBC. HSBC said that it would cooperate with the investigation, adding that the allegations were "of great concern"....
Last year, HSBC agreed to pay US authorities $1.9bn (£1.2bn) in a settlement over money laundering, the largest paid in such a case."...
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Greenmail works!
'Green' HSBC Bank for "customers with a conscience." 1/15/08, "HSBC tops green banking list." 1/11/08, "HSBC, Other European Banks Receive Top Scores in First-Ever Ranking of 40 Leading Banks on Climate Change Strategies," CSRwire (Corporate Social Responsibility) (HSBC 'cares.')
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