Incompetence or couldn’t care less?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54225572

The claim about JP Morgan and Semion Mogilevich is interesting as he was named in allegations in House of Trump, House of Putin that the russian mafia laundered huge amounts of money through trump real estate.

Doesn’t surprise me at all. Am moving all my accounts from them shortly as am sick of the scumbags

Not sure they’re being naughty. There’s a regulatory requirement to file a suspicious activity report. They’d fulfilled that regulatory requirement.

What needs to happen is that the regulations need to be harsher – but coming from the criminal banana republic united kingdom, that’s not going to happen.

City of London has quite separate laws from the rest of the country to facilitate exactly this sort of activity. UK.gov is going to require people who register companies in the UK to actually give their name. Woo-hoo – years after the Tories have been resistant to this.

Of course, they’ll sell that as doing great stuff against fraud. Which is utter crap.

But the banks are acting as they’ve been legally mandated to act.

chevy – that companies house requirement won’t change anything.
We need a strong regulatory system – with teeth that bite; very heavy fines and the power to hold directors personally responsible – it happens in the states.
It’s only a matter of political will; ah, now I see what the problem is.

Agree. But it A) won’t happen in the UK and B) doesn’t really happen in the states either.

The banking system is by the rich, for the rich. Criminality is in the eye of the beholder (and doesn’t apply to the rich).

Business as usual for the old boys with little to no repercussions. The goldfish have forgot (look at the rabbit over there) all the problems **** like these have caused and the fallout both political and economic, which is still ongoing.

Just as I predicted the only tax efficient types our government went after, with any venom, were a handful of celebs for public exhibition and small time plebs (who can’t afford to fight back) playing at it, whilst doing backroom deals and/or letting the big boys just get on with it!

Of course they have all followed the rules and nobody saw anything. Oh and subsequent internal procedures will be tightened up (always kid gloves isn’t it). Never heard that old chestnut trotted out by just about every corporate organisation caught fiddling and turning a blind eye! Any scapegoats?!?!

Don’t worry I’m sure after Brexit financial regulation will be made watertight and dodgy Russian money won’t be welcome in the City.

Lol!!! The city doesn’t care where it comes from as long s it gets its cut

Bad story writing by the BBC I think. Headlinns are all “banks do bad” but, like chevy says, if you read the story it seems the banks are doing what is required of them. But of an odd one.

Errrmmmm

My understanding is once suspicious activity is flagged then the accounts should be frozen – but they kept on moving the money around even when it was clear there was criminal activity.

they MIGHT have just about stuck to the letter of the law but opinion is divided at best. they certainly did everything they could to circumvent the intent of the law

Don’t think that is right. Once a SAR is filed you have to be really careful about not tipping off the party. Once it has been investigated and there is solid evidence then you certainly have to close/suspend the account or take whatever actions the appropriate authorities instruct. It isn’t as simple as filing a SAR then immediately closing the account. Bet there are hundred of SARs raised which once investigated prove innocent.

The story isn’t going to be about a bank, the story is (as always) going to be about politics and shady handouts

Don’t think that is right. Once a SAR is filed you have to be really careful about not tipping off the party. Once it has been investigated and there is solid evidence then you certainly have to close/suspend the account or take whatever actions the appropriate authorities instruct. It isn’t as simple as filing a SAR then immediately closing the account. Bet there are hundred of SARs raised which once investigated prove innocent.

^^This. I don’t know if that was the case here, but SAR then freezing the accounts could raise a real red flag with the regulator. There are a lot of cases where evidence/investigation are needed and frozen accounts won’t help with that, not to say the tipping off aspect.