The war against money-laundering is being lost
Just goes to show you what moral hazards look like. The DOJ (and perhaps similarly in GB?) has repeatedly preferred to prosecute white collar crimes seeking fines instead of jail time. From their perspective it makes sense. The accused admit their crime, you get a quicker resolution, and the government gets more tax revenue. The problem of course is that everyone bakes it into the “cost of business”. What would the banking industry look like if HSBC executives had been personally indicted for the many money laundering issues they allow to happen? What would it look like if the HSBC’s corporate veil were pierced as a result of their malfeasance?You don’t need conviction numbers to set examples around unacceptable bad behavior. Add enforcement and regular independent audits by regulators with strong regulatory capture protections, and you’ll have a better run system.