Trust the banks? 

As we are growing up, we are taught to trust the banks and financial industry because, we are told, they are there to help us, and while it’s true that some of the services can be beneficial, such as debt for businesses where they borrow to expand, improve, or invest and the debt is repaid with the profit made from the loan (self-liquidating loan), many of the services they push are designed to get people into debt for purchases they simply don’t need and are not self-liquidating; they are for purchases that will devalue over time while the debt becomes far greater than the value of the product they paid for.

You may have noticed how many more companies contact you if you are a good risk, trying to get you to take out more loans from them. Once your loans are nearly paid or if you are struggling a little to pay the loans you already have, you will be offered additional loans or a loan to consolidate all the loans you’re struggling to pay off into one big new loan. The whole system is based around debt and keeping people in debt for as long as possible because all that debt means the creation of new currency from that debt and all the interest payments on it. That’s what the banks survive and thrive on.

Banks are not there for us; they are there to make vast profits from us, which pay for excessive bonuses, salaries, dividends, and to purchase real assets such as gold and silver, amongst other things. They also make huge profits from illegal practises involving overcharging, fraud, identity theft, market rigging, and money laundering, to name just a few.

Banks and bankers should not be blindly trusted with your savings.

Over the last 30 years, there have been several high-profile cases of banks being fined for criminal activities. Some of the biggest fines for criminal activity by banks in the last three decades are as follows:

There have been several large fines for criminal activity by banks over the last 30 years. Here are some of the most significant:

In 2012, HSBC was fined $1.92 billion by US authorities for money laundering activities. The bank was accused of helping drug cartels and other criminal organizations to move money around the world.

In 2015, five major banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, were fined a total of $5.6 billion for manipulating foreign exchange markets. The banks were accused of colluding to fix exchange rates and cheat their customers.

In 2016, Wells Fargo was fined $185 million for creating millions of fake accounts without customers’ knowledge or consent. The bank’s employees were under intense pressure to meet sales targets, which led to the fraudulent activity.

In 2020, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $3.9 billion to settle a probe into its role in the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia. The bank was accused of helping to raise money for the state-owned investment fund, which was later found to have been used to buy luxury assets and pay bribes.

In 2021, Deutsche Bank was fined $130 million by US regulators for bribery and corruption in its dealings with Jeffrey Epstein and other clients. The bank was accused of ignoring red flags about Epstein’s activities and failing to monitor his accounts properly.

In 2014, BNP Paribas was fined a record $8.9 billion for violating US sanctions against Sudan, Iran, and Cuba. The bank was accused of processing transactions for clients in those countries, which were prohibited by US law.

In 2013, JPMorgan Chase was fined $13 billion for its role in the subprime mortgage crisis. The bank was accused of misleading investors about the quality of mortgage-backed securities it sold in the run-up to the financial crisis.

In 2017, Credit Suisse was fined $5.3 billion for its role in the sale of toxic mortgage-backed securities in the US. The bank was accused of misleading investors about the quality of the securities and of knowingly selling defective products.

In 2019, Standard Chartered was fined $1.1 billion by US and UK regulators for violating sanctions against Iran. The bank was accused of processing transactions for clients in Iran, despite being aware of the sanctions.

In 2018, Danske Bank was fined $225 million by Estonian regulators for its role in a money-laundering scandal involving Russian clients. The bank was accused of failing to prevent money laundering and of not properly monitoring suspicious transactions.

In 2019, Société Générale was fined €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) by French authorities for violating sanctions against Iran and Sudan. The bank was accused of processing transactions for clients in those countries, which were prohibited by French law.

In 2016, Credit Agricole was fined $787 million by US authorities for violating sanctions against Sudan, Iran, and Cuba. The bank was accused of processing transactions for clients in those countries, which were prohibited by US law.

In 2017, Royal Bank of Scotland was fined $4.9 billion by US authorities for its role in the sale of toxic mortgage-backed securities in the US. The bank was accused of misleading investors about the quality of the securities and of knowingly selling defective products.

In 2020, JPMorgan Chase was fined $920 million by US authorities for manipulating precious metals and Treasury securities markets. The bank was accused of using illegal trading practices to manipulate markets and to defraud its customers.

In 2021, Westpac Banking Corporation was fined AUD 1.3 billion ($900 million) by Australian authorities for breaching anti-money laundering laws. The bank was accused of failing to properly monitor transactions that could be linked to child exploitation.

In 2018, Rabobank was fined $369 million by US authorities for its role in money laundering for Mexican drug cartels. The bank was accused of failing to properly monitor transactions that could be linked to drug trafficking.

In 2017, UBS was fined €3.7 billion ($4.2 billion) by French authorities for helping wealthy clients to evade taxes. The bank was accused of setting up offshore accounts for clients and using other illegal means to help them avoid taxes.

In 2016, Deutsche Bank was fined $628 million by UK and US authorities for its role in a $10 billion Russian money-laundering scheme. The bank was accused of failing to properly monitor transactions that could be linked to the scheme.

In 2020, Commerzbank was fined €536 million ($628 million) by German and US authorities for violating sanctions against Iran and Sudan. The bank was accused of processing transactions for clients in those countries, which were prohibited by German and US law.

In 2018, Standard Chartered was fined $1.1 billion by US and UK authorities for violating sanctions against Iran. The bank was accused of processing transactions for clients in Iran, despite being aware of the sanctions.

In 2020, Goldman Sachs was fined $2.9 billion by US authorities for its role in the 1MDB scandal. The bank was accused of participating in a scheme to divert billions of dollars from the Malaysian state development fund for personal gain.

In 2019, Swedbank was fined $386 million by Swedish and Estonian authorities for its role in a money-laundering scandal involving Russian clients. The bank was accused of failing to prevent money laundering and of not properly monitoring suspicious transactions.

In 2020, HSBC was fined $1.9 billion by US authorities for its role in money laundering for drug cartels and terrorist organizations. The bank was accused of failing to properly monitor transactions that could be linked to illegal activities.

In 2020, Wells Fargo was fined $3 billion by US authorities for its role in creating millions of fake customer accounts to meet sales targets. The bank was accused of deceiving customers and violating consumer protection laws.

In 2021, Danske Bank was fined €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) by Danish authorities for its role in a money-laundering scandal involving Russian clients. The bank was accused of failing to prevent money laundering and of not properly monitoring suspicious transactions.

This is what the banks would call the cost of doing business, one can only imagine the amount of profits made by these banks if they are not put off repeating their criminal activities by these, slap on the wrist, small fines.

Although you may not want to read through all the articles below, it should serve as a reminder that banking and crime are never too far apart, therefore we should not hold them in the high regard we are taught to and should always do our own research in to other means of saving where and whenever possible.

Below are just a few examples of recent cases of banker or banking criminality that made the news.

This is just a quick snap shot of a few articles; it would probably be easy enough to update this list daily as the banks consider these fines as simply the cost of doing their usual business; they make far more from the illegal practises than they get fined, and those in charge never go to prison, so they simply carry on doing it. In fact, if you’re a member of the financial club, it seems you can be a convicted criminal and still be promoted to the head of the World Bank. Most people with convictions like these wouldn’t be trusted to work at the checkout in a shop! …. We think you get the idea.