HSBC got away with buying cocaine plane

While the Justice Department was busy prosecuting American HSBC customers for tax evasion, it has taken no action against the bank for nearly five years
The Daily Beast (US)
Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A money-laundering investigation as big as the bank itself ended with a deferred prosecution agreement that allowed HSBC to escape criminal charges and suffer only a fine. This while the US Department of Justice was jailing non-bankers by the dozen for laundering drug money, including cash from the Sinaloa cartel, which had been a prime HSBC co-conspirator. HSBC got a pass on helping the Sinaloa bunch acquire an airplane that was used to smuggle drugs by the ton. (See also: HSBC has form: remember Mexico and laundered drug money)