What do you know? I post a picture of the HSBC building in Mexico City to illustrate a post about money-laundering, and suddenly a Senate committee accuses HSBC of money laundering!
But as Gancho warns, be careful about the significance of these reports. The fact the HSBC was lax does not translate into all of its business consisting of money-laundering. This is not exonerate HSBC. Nor is it to say that we should not combat money-laundering. It is simply to say that we have to be careful when estimating the size of illicit flows. Jumping to conclusions is just another way of making the cartels seem like unbeatable superorganizations, when they are not.
I agree. One key fact about the investigation seems to be the movement, back and forth between Mexico and the US, of large amounts of bulk cash. I may be a rube on issues of high finance, but sending physical money does not strike me as the mark of a supersophisticated, world-conquering, Dr. Evil-type of criminal organization.
Best regards,
Alejandro
Posted by: Ahope71 | July 17, 2012 at 09:08 PM