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Government Ups the Ante for Financial Fraud With Criminal Charges Against UBS for LIBOR Misdeeds

By Gordon Schnell It was just two weeks ago that the government slapped HSBC with a record $1.9 billion fine to settle charges of money laundering and dealing with terrorist states. As steep as the payment was, however, there seemed to be an overriding consensus that the government let the banking giant off easy by foregoing any criminal charges. To many, it was just the latest iteration of the...

Too Big to Prosecute? -- HSBC Pays Record Fine for "Aiding and Abetting Drug Lords and Terrorists" But Dodges Criminal Sanctions

By Gordon Schnell The London-based mega-bank HSBC agreed last week to pay $1.9 billion to settle government charges that it violated the Bank Secrecy Act for facilitating money laundering by some of the world's nastiest drug cartels.  The charges also included alleged violations of the Trading with the Enemy Act for the bank's improper dealings with a number of countries subject to international sanctions.  Click...