# [[FinCEN]] Files by [[BuzzFeed]] Links: [[Financial Surveillance]] ## Motivation for study This is named, specific dirt on the largest financial institutions in the US and around the world. If you want to learn how the shadowy world of banking works, study the FinCEN files - "[[Standard Chartered]] moved money on behalf of Al Zarooni Exchange, a Dubai-based business that was later accused of laundering cash on behalf of the [[Taliban]]. During the years that Al Zarooni was a Standard Chartered customer, Taliban militants staged violent attacks that killed civilians and soldiers." - "[[HSBC]]’s Hong Kong branch allowed [WCM777](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7213835-Non-Banks-Responses.html), a Ponzi scheme, to move more than $15 million even as the business was being barred from operating in three states. Authorities say the scam stole at least $80 million from investors, mainly Latino and Asian immigrants, and the company’s owner used the looted funds to buy two golf courses, a 7,000-square-foot mansion, a 39.8-carat diamond, and mining rights in Sierra Leone." - "Greater public accountability could also make a difference. HSBC has [fought](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-a-pennsylvania-couple-may-force-hsbc-to-release-secret-report-1456774966) to keep secret the final report by the monitor that the government installed to watch over the bank during the years of its deferred prosecution agreement. It even took the unusual step of weighing in on a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, when BuzzFeed News sued the Justice Department to release the report. The knowledge that negative reports could become public, and potentially damage share prices, could impel wayward banks to clean up their acts." ## Dedicated webpage aggregating coverage https://www.buzzfeednews.com/fincen-files ![[Screen Shot 2021-08-04 at 11.44.49 AM.png]] ## Main Report https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/fincen-files-financial-scandal-criminal-networks ![[Screen Shot 2021-08-04 at 11.44.05 AM.png]] - Skim read most of it ## HSBC ### The Chemist Who Took On HSBC https://archive.is/wmxrX#selection-4087.0-4087.28 [[HSBC]] fought hard to keep their settlement sealed... Curious what information was inside. "In his letter to Judge Gleeson, Mr. Moore wrote that his experience trying to modify his mortgage led him to believe HSBC was violating the terms of a mortgage-related settlement and asked the judge to release the monitor’s report to help him prove it."