Re:FinCEN Files show trillions in tainted dollars flow freel...
by hakfoo on Sunday September 20, 2020 @05:53PM
(#24537743)
I wonder if it's a scale problem at its heart.
A single-branch local bank could legitimately know their customers on a personal basis and their dealings. Joe-bob comes in with $12k in cash? But we already knew through social circles he just sold his truck, so that's not really suspicious. The guy who has never interacted with anyone outside the county and is suddenly requesting wire transfers to Outer Slobavia? Likely money mule.
I doubt that HSBC can maintain that level of awareness, so we build clunky rules to simulate it.
This price is entirely one sided and ignorant of the damage those regulations inflict on honest bank customers. The hundreds of thousands who’ve had accounts closed, or funds seized, without explanation or recourse.
When professional journalists write a one sided advocacy piece ignorant of the damage the course they advocates causes, they are also advocating more aggressive account seizure and system lockout for innocent customers, whether they realize it or not.