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WASHINGTON: Massive sums of allegedly dirty money have flowed over the years through some of the world’s largest banking institutions, said an international journalistic investigation published Sunday, which denounced deficiencies in the sector’s regulations.
“Profits from deadly drug wars, embezzled fortunes from developing countries, and hard-earned savings stolen in a Ponzi scheme were allowed to flow to and from these financial institutions, despite warnings from the employees of the banks, “according to the investigation. Buzzfeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The investigation, which was led by 108 international media outlets from 88 different countries, is based on thousands of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) submitted to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s financial law enforcement agency, FinCEN, by banks around the world.
“These documents, compiled by banks, shared with the government, but hidden from the public, expose the vacuum of bank safeguards and the ease with which criminals have exploited them,” wrote the US media Buzzfeed News, in the introduction of its report.
The documents refer to US $ 2 trillion in transactions that circulated between 1999 and 2017.
The investigation particularly targets five large banks – JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon – accused of continuing to move assets of suspected criminals, even after being indicted or convicted of misconduct. financial
“The networks through which dirty money traverses the world have become vital arteries of the global economy,” reported Buzzfeed News.
In a statement, Deutsche Bank said the ICIJ disclosures were “well known” to its regulators.
The bank also said it had “dedicated significant resources to strengthening our controls”, in addition to focusing on “meeting our responsibilities and obligations.”
The investigation also highlighted the lack of power of the US authorities to regulate dirty financial transactions.
In a statement issued prior to the release of the investigation, FinCEN said that “unauthorized disclosure of RAS is a crime that may affect the national security of the United States.”
