[seen in Dubai, November 2014]
July 2012:
HSBC 'sorry' for aiding Mexican drugs lords, rogue states and terrorists
Lawmakers hammered the British-based bank over the scandal, demanding to know how and why its affiliates had exposed it to the proceeds of drug trafficking and terrorist financing in a "pervasively polluted" culture that persisted for years. "
December 2012:
HSBC has confirmed it is to pay US authorities $1.9bn (£1.2bn) in a settlement over money laundering, the largest paid in such a case.
A US Senate investigation said the UK-based bank had been a conduit for "drug kingpins and rogue nations".
January 2013:
LAST month, HSBC admitted in court pleadings that it had allowed big Mexican and Colombian drug cartels to launder at least $881 million.
The bank also admitted to using various schemes to move hundreds of millions of dollars to nations subject to trade sanctions, including Iran, Cuba and Sudan, in violation of the Trading With the Enemy Act.
“On at least one occasion,” according to a statement by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, “HSBC instructed a bank in Iran on how to format payment messages so that the transactions would not be blocked or rejected by the United States.” "
January 2014:
HSBC has admitted its laundering role, and evaded criminal prosecution by paying a fine of almost $2 billion.
The lack of imprisonment of any bankers involved is indicative of the hypocritical nature of the drug war; an individual selling a few grams of drugs can face decades in prison, while a group of people that tacitly allow — and profit from — the trade of tons, escape incarceration. "
November 2014:
See above.
Horribly tone deaf advertising or veiled offer to terrorists and rogue nations? You decide.
4 responses to “Shameless”
Are you implying that all Mexicans are drug dealers or terrorists?
Whilst I find HSBC’s actions deplorable, I find your implication insulting to the people of Mexico and highly hypocritical coming from you. I guess now we know where you stand.
Hello there!
I’m assuming you are kidding, right?
If not, goodness me no, you’ve not just got the wrong end of the stick, you’ve in fact grabbed an entirely different stick.
What I was trying, and it seems failing, to imply, was rather than HSBC seems to have either become tone deaf in its advertising, assuming no one remembers or still cares about laundering narco-terror money, or that – and this was a joke – it was actively using the reference to make a veiled appeal to other terrorists and rogue states.
If this was another bank, the dominant signified of “Mexican” would, as you suggest, apply to Mexicans. Specifically, in this context, delivery Mexican food. BUT because its HSBC, the dominant meaning gets subsumed into their history in Mexico, which we should not allow them to whitewash over, and we should not allow them to re-deploy Mexican signfiers without reminding ourselves of their behavior.
Does that make sense? I don’t believe all Mexicans are drug dealers and terrorists. At all. In fact, I say terrorists and rogue nations, in direct reference to the Iran element in the body copy. So, here I’m saying, HSBC is perhaps using a veiled reference to its activities in Mexico for terrorists, to advertise to other terrorists and rogue nation states, of any geography, race or creed.
I’m very fond of Mexico. I’m very saddened by recent events. I spend quite a lot of time in Mexico. All of which is irrelevant.
I am not doubt a hypocrite about many things, for I am large and contain multitudes. But perhaps not as much as this large global financial entity.
Maybe a campaign created by someone relatively junior who genuinely didn’t know the money laundering scandal / didn’t make the connexion? Still surprising as this billboard was spotted in Dubai, a well-connected and open place where there’s no doubt people read about international affairs.
Hi Anne-Laure!
Maybe so – but the buck stops with the grown ups 😉
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