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Thom's blog
Too Big to Exist
The too-big-to-jail banks may have gotten away with even more crimes than we thought. According to new details exposed in the so-called “biggest banking leak in history,” HSBC helped their clients shield billions of dollars in assets from taxes in their home countries.
Not only did that client list include prominent U.S. sports stars, film directors, hedge fund managers, and major political donors, but, our government knew about all of this tax dodging as far back as 2010.
The Guardian Newspaper says that the leaked HSBC data was shared with regulators five years ago, but so far, we haven't seen one single bankster go to jail over this illegal activity. These leaked documents show that HSBC regularly allowed clients to withdraw bricks of $100,000 dollars in cash, they marketed tax-avoidance schemes to wealthy clients, colluded with clients to conceal hidden bank accounts, and they provided accounts to known criminals.
But, five years after finding out about it, there hasn't been a single HSBC official put on trial. In fact, even after HSBC got caught laundering money for Mexican drug cartels, the banksters were able to buy their way out of those crimes for a couple billion bucks.
Apparently, too-big-to-fail doesn't only mean too-big-to-jail, it also means that HSBC is too-big-to-prosecute. Sure, a few of HSBC's US clients have been prosecuted for criminal tax evasion, but the bank that helped them pull it off is still open for business.
How many times does one company get to break the law before they are really held accountable? Is there any crime that they can't simply buy their way out of? We have a few great lawmakers like Senators Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders who are asking these tough questions, but every single elected representative should be.
No corporation or bank should be immune from prosecution – and it's time to make too-big-to-fail mean too-big-to-exist.
-Thom
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Thom Hartmann Program
The discussion on stocks used the word investment. Except for the IPO, money paid for a stock does not go to the company and therefore has no relation to "job making." This is a major capitalist myth! (Lie?)
It's surprising how many people do not realise that. And apart from IPOs, money 'invested' in the stock market is gambling rather than investment.
Real investment is putting money into infrastructure, for example.