International criminal banking conspiracy leads to laughable fines only

[BelgianMadCow]

Yes, I'm in the alternative headline business today. The actual ones are along the lines of:

Banks fined record €1.7bn over benchmark interest rate rigging cartel

The banks involved are HSBC, RBS, JP Morgan, Barclays, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale, and also the trader Icap. Not all have agreed to settle.

Note that UBS avoids a 2 billion fine and Barclays a 570 million one because they blew the whistle (but were involved).
Not all whistleblowers are treated equal, don't you think?

Also, the combined assets under management of these banks go in the tens if not hundreds of trillions. The rates manipulated underly about 40% of all mortgages. A couple billion in a fine instead of large numbers of people going to jail is being touted as a record fine, even though a couple billion is the net quarterly profit of one of the smaller ones.

“What is shocking about the Libor and Euribor scandals is not only the manipulation of benchmarks, which is being tackled by financial regulators worldwide, but also the collusion between banks who are supposed to be competing with each other,” said Joaquín Almunia, European Commission Vice-President in charge of competition policy.

And that's why we're allowing them to settle, and why we don't break them up or revoke their licences. Understood?

There will be no justice, or peace in this world until we shut these cartels down.

[Scuba]

1. "The illusion of freedom ....

"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre." ~ Frank Zappa

[BelgianMadCow]

2. Yep. But the question is, what does "the brick wall" look like?

For many, it's already clearly visible. Doing nothing in the face of climate change. Secret free trade agreements. Global unwarranted spying. Unilateral wars for profit. The Big Bank Heist. M$M.

I guess it's the rat race, consumerism and media & entertainment diversions that keep people from seeing. I don't "do" any of these things anymore, and for me it's like looking at The Eye.

[Enthusiast]

9. The brick wall is clearly visble to those that choose to look.

The secret free trade agreements, unwarranted global spying, unilateral wars for profit and the Big Bank Heist are all being covered up by a complicit M$M.

Some on DU, obvious employees of someone, actually argue in favor of maintaining business as usual, the status quo, as if we aren't already mired in a massive global catastrophe.

[KansDem]

3. Speaking of UBS...

What has been the outcome of its money-laundering scheme for drug cartels?

[BelgianMadCow]

7. Hmm. I thought it was HSBC with the all-out money laundering, but WOW

an Ixquick on HSBC drug cartel money laundering yielded

How a big US bank laundered billions from Mexico's murderous drug gangs - about Wachovia (now owend by Well Fargo, or has that been eaten by a bigger fish as well).

'Drugs cartels used HSBC to launder cash' on, indeed, HSBC

A search on UBS yielded:

UBS in drug money laundering case: Employee suspended - Police arrest Colombian woman - dollars 150m account frozen no worries, it was only a UBS VP involved. Nothing institutional.

but also Mexican Drug Cartel Laundered Money Through BofA, FBI Alleges Hmm BofA.

It looks like it's safe to say drug money laundering is (was?) a fullblown part of the cartel's business model.

Thanks for the question!

[abelenkpe]

4. Crime pays for banks

And large corporations. And so it will continue.

[Blue_Tires]

5. +1

[happyfunball]

8. Fine, while technically the correct word, is the wrong word

A better word is "cut".

The government demands a "cut" of the profits...sort of like the upper echelon gangster gets a cut of his underling gangsters' income.