Don Mashak · @DMashak
1st Aug 2014 from TwitLonger
Crime Doesn't Pay Like it Used To -- It Pays Better by Jim Fawcette
This is an article by Jim fawcette on Google Plus. I have put it here on Twitlonger for folks who are not on Google Plus. You can visit the Google Plus link here https://plus.google.com/+JimFawcette/posts/5BLeUfrQXyG Now on with the story:
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Buried near the end of a post on Dealbook about the fiasco of using bank consultants to manage the mortgage fraud settlements (hint: Consultants got more than the defrauded home owners) is a gem.
Remember when HSBC and Standard Chartered banks were fined for laundering money for terrorists? It turns out, the Deloitte Touche accounting firm helped them figure out how to do it.
Now, here's the punch line. As a result of the settlement, Standard Chartered is required to hire -- pregnant pause -- Deloitte to monitor whether it has stopped laundering money. No, really. No word on whether the SEC is requiring the bank to hire John Dillinger as a security consultant.
Dealbook: "Deloitte has also been suspected of helping institutions cloak illicit transfers of money to rogue nations around the globe. In August, New York’s top banking regulator, Benjamin M. Lawsky, accused Deloitte of helping the British bank Standard Chartered flout American sanctions.
"The consulting firm was hired to flag suspicious transfers routed through Standard Chartered’s New York branches. Instead, it instructed bankers on how to escape regulatory scrutiny, according to state court documents. ...{details in article} ...
"The authorities never took legal action against Deloitte, and federal officials noted in a separate settlement agreement that Standard Chartered employees withheld critical information from the consulting firm.
"Despite these concerns, regulators are turning to a familiar source to help Standard Chartered. As part of a $327 million settlement last year, the bank is required to hire “an independent consultant.” Guess who.
Read the article at the link here. It's a hoot. Joke's on us.
Doubt is cast on firms hired to help banks http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/doubt-is-cast-on-firms-hired-to-help-banks/?smid=pl-share