In the USA people get sent to jail for the most trivial of reasons. They have the highest rate of incarceration in the world. By far.

I don’t get why bankers are immune.

Appearing at a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) grilled officials from the Treasury Department over why criminal charges were not filed against officials at HSBC who helped launder hundreds of millions of dollars for drug cartels.

The HSBC scandal resulted in the Department of Justice and Treasury announcing a record $1.92 billion fine after finding that the international bank repeatedly helped the world’s most violent drug gangs move at least $881 million in ill-gotten gains through numerous countries the U.S. has economic sanctions against.

“HSBC paid a fine, but no one individual went to trial, no individual was banned from banking, and there was no hearing to consider shutting down HSBC’s activities here in the United States,” Warren said. “So, what I’d like is, you’re the experts on money laundering. I’d like an opinion: What does it take — how many billions do you have to launder for drug lords and how many economic sanctions do you have to violate — before someone will consider shutting down a financial institution like this?”..

read more – A question that has not been answered

If I was an American politician, I wouldn’t be droning on about drones. I’d be campaigning for throwing decision makers at criminal banks in prison.

I’d start with this guy, Stuart Gulliver, the chief executive of HSBC.

He was paid $11.1 million last year, despite missing cost and profit targets and a record money laundering fine.

I don’t care if he’s guilty or not. The captain goes down with the ship.

The political gain I’d get from personally dragging him by the ear into prison would far outweigh the years of court battles.

When people ask me why I think Obama’s a lousy President, his gutlessness in dealing with those who most caused the crash of 2008 is high on my list of reasons.

Iceland arrested corrupt bankers. … How did that work out for them? 🙂

related:

• HSBC money laundering: too big to jail

• HSBC Bankers Get No Jail Time for Terrorist Financing While Somali Sentenced for Charity