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Astronomical sums of dirty money flowed through the world’s largest banks for years, according to a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released on Sunday that denounces the lack of regulations in the sector.
“Profits from deadly drug wars, fortunes diverted from developing countries, and hard-earned savings stolen in Ponzi schemes, they have been able to enter and leave these institutions despite the warnings of the bank employees themselves ”, says the investigation carried out by 108 media from 88 countries.
The investigation is based on thousands of “suspicious activity reports” sent by banks around the world to FinCen, the financial police of the US Department of the Treasury.
“Those documents, compiled by banks, shared with the government but kept out of public view, they expose the weakness of bank safeguards and the ease with which criminals exploit them ”, wrote the digital medium Buzzfeed, in the presentation of the report.
The documents point to transactions for two trillion dollars between 1999 and 2017.
The investigation points in particular to five large banks (JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon) whom it accuses of mobilizing assets of alleged criminals, even after they had been prosecuted or convicted of financial crimes .
“The networks through which dirty money circulates around the world have become vital arteries for the global economy”, according to Buzzfeed News.
NEW: Along with @buzzfeednews and 108 other media organizations, we revealed the #FinCENFiles – our latest cross-border investigation.
Using top secret bank documents and months of reporting, we expose how banks fail to stop dirty money flows. https://t.co/hBG1poGsho
– ICIJ (@ICIJorg) September 20, 2020
Deutsche Bank said the disclosures “are well known” to regulatory bodies. The German bank claims to have allocated “significant resources to strengthen its controls” as well as to comply “with its responsibilities and obligations.
The investigation highlights the lack of power of the US authorities to regulate dirty financial operations.
Prior to the release of the report, the Treasury’s financial police warned that spreading suspicious transaction reports without permission is a “crime that may impact the national security of the United States.”
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