These Banks Were Given The Biggest Corporate Fines In History
These Banks Were Given The Biggest Corporate Fines In History
Many companies have broken the law in the past—usually to get ahead of their competition in some way, or to increase their own profiteering capabilities, regardless of the consequences for the environment, economy, or the lives of everyday people. But these companies were caught—and handed the biggest corporate fines in judicial history.
HSBC's Non-AML Program
AML stands for "anti-money laundering", a series of expectations for banks to uphold practices and procedures that don't encourage or support financial crimes. In 2012, the Department of Justice found that Britain-based HSBC (operating under HSBC USA) had looked the other way when its major clients conducted money laundering operations. It was charged under four different pieces of legislation, to the tune of $1.2 billion.
Poor MANS Trading Oversight
Trading oversight is a poor man's game, or so MANS (one of the world's largest trading companies dating back to 1873) thought. Even after going bankrupt in 2011, MANS was still under investigation for poor trading regulations. The CFTC fined MANS Trading $1.21 billion and banned its CEO from trading markets for life.
SAC's Insider Trading Debacle
SAC Capital was a trading company that was found guilty of insider trading by the Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC)—insider trading is when a company or individual gets inside information about publicly traded stocks, giving them an unfair advantage. Along with a whopping $1.8 billion, several individual traders for SAC Capital were given lengthy prison sentences.
Credit Suisse's Tax Fraud
Credit Suisse made one mistake in a huge tax fraud scandal that rocked the bank. They'd illegally aided US customers in misrepresenting their income taxes. After years of scandalous behavior, Credit Suisse was ordered to pay $1.8 billion.
