Page 146 - Bank Case Studies
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to participate actively with government authorities
in bringing to light and addressing these
matters,"(1)
The Senate said the bank had for years operated a
"pervasively polluted" culture, allowing HSBC to move
billions around the financial system for Mexican drug lords,
such as laundered $881m for the Mexican Sinaloa drug
cartel and Colombia’s Norte del Valle cartel, and doing the
same for terrorists and governments on sanctions lists.
In terms of the US it
was estimated that
HSBC's Mexican
operations (HBMX)
between 2007-8
moved $7bn into its
US operations, which
the Senate was told
was tied to drug
money. (1, 2)
“HSBC US (HBUS) nevertheless classed Mexico as a low-risk
country and as a result, failed to properly monitor its
transfers and other dealings with it.” (2)
In Mexico the bank "severely understaffed" its compliance
department and failed to implement an anti-money
laundering programme despite evidence of serious risks.
“A complex scheme known as the black market
peso exchange (BMPE) was used to launder the
cash. Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance
