Financial Transparency Coalition

The doors of international institutions can be very far away from many civil society organizations, both literally in terms of distance and expense to get there, and figuratively in terms of whether the international institutions know enough about the organization to extend an invitation to you. This leaves many civil society organizations around the world very much outside the process of international standard setting. I am pleased to report that you don’t need an invitation to attend the OECD’s consultation meeting on transfer pricing documentation and country by country reporting, set for November 12 and 13 in Paris. ...

HSBC Bank USA N.A. and HSBC Bank Holdings plc, its parent company, agreed to forfeiture and penalties of a little more than $1.9 billion dollars for systemic and willful violations of U.S. anti-money laundering and foreign sanctions laws. $1.9 billion may sounds like a lot, but does the penalty fit the crime?

HSBC Bank USA N.A. and HSBC Bank Holdings plc, its parent company, agreed to forfeiture and penalties of a little more than $1.9 billion dollars for systemic and willful violations of U.S. anti-money laundering and foreign sanctions laws. $1.9 billion may sounds like a lot, but does the penalty fit the crime?

This is part 2 of a series of excerpts from the Statement of Facts, which constitutes Attachment A to the Deferred Prosecution Agreement entered into between U.S. regulators and the HSBC banks, and let you decide for yourself. These are excerpts detailing events that HSBC has explicitly admitted to.