- May 5, 2005
- 21,548
- 45,031
This wouldn't be the same 'fine' HSBC that facilitated the laundering of $881m of Mexican and Columbian drug cartels by any chance, and who were subsequently fined £1.4Bn?
Or the same HSBC who were also fined for contravening international sanctions by secretly dealing with Iran, Libya, Sudan, Burma and Cuba?
And was it not HSBC who admitted to helping wealthy clients evade tax through its private Swiss banking arm and were subject to allegations of rigging foreign exchange and precious metals markets?
Or the same bank that's expecting a $1bn fine for its role in mis-selling toxic mortgage products in the US ahead of the 2007/08 financial crisis and is currently being investigated by UK regulators for its alleged links to money laundering by the billionaire Gupta family, and whose links to president Jacob Zuma are at the heart of a political storm in South Africa?
I don't wish to be a party pooper - just pointing out that HSBC are anything but 'fine'.
So a bank, then.