[trevelyan]

Huh? Why do you think it is appropriate for the US government to be regulating the behavior of a foreign bank in a foreign country? I have a business account at HSBC in Hong Kong. It stores assets in USD and it is none of your or your government's business. I had assumed the US bank somehow violated American law, because if the only complaints are about the behavior of the Mexican bank, the whole thing smells like a political shakedown.

By your logic the Chinese government should be fining American banks (i.e. Citibank) which offer RMB<-->USD conversion services outside China. Because, after all, the RMB is a controlled currency in China and the behavior of American banks is illegal under Chinese law.

[milkshakes]

> Huh? Why do you think it is appropriate for the US government to be regulating the behavior of a foreign bank in a foreign country?

That's quite the straw man you've set up. I don't believe I ever once said anything like that.

I do think it is appropriate for the US to regulate the operations of a foreign bank within their boarders. If the multinational bank violated US law, the multinational bank and its US subsidiaries should lose their ability to continue to conduct business in the US. You know, like what DHS is doing to Mt Gox now, which was the whole point of this thread in the first place.

[trevelyan]

> That's quite the straw man you've set up. I don't believe I ever once said anything like that.

Huh? Your post goes on and on accusing HSBC Mexico of malfeasance yet does not contain a single accusation of wrongdoing on the part of any American subsidiary or company.

As far the MtGox issue goes, DHS has shut down an American account belonging to an American company (a subsidiary explicitly created in the US to process USD). It is an entirely different matter.

[milkshakes]

Seriously, RTFD.

The document outlines in unambiguous terms the extent to which HSBC (the parent HSBC) consistently, knowingly, and over an extended period of time, manipulated transactions and associated processes, at times over the objections of their own US subsidiaries, to conduct business, in America, in US Dollars, that was in violation of AML laws and regulations.

I'm not sure what else there's left to say about this at this point.

[DanBC]

There are international agreements about money laundering.

[trevelyan]

There are international agreements about a lot of things. Doesn't make American law apply to non-American companies.

[thwest]

We could use a political shakedown or two for the Mexican cartels.