News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on HSBC moved vast sums of dirty money after paying record laundering fine. Parent comment

Re:HSBC moved vast sums of dirty money after paying record l... by SpicyLemonZest on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @03:35AM (#24551916)
I don't agree with the premise. The way to fight criminal banking activity is to write clear, straightforward, and consistently enforced laws. No system of incentives is going to meaningfully reduce financial crime in a world where grey areas are gigantic and almost all cases end with a settlement.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:HSBC moved vast sums of dirty money after paying record l... by bitcoinbutter on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @04:52AM (#24552345)
You can try to write all the laws you want, eventually it boils down to manually reviewing a ton of transactions and everyone loses. The bank needs to pay for growing compliance departments, customers are scrutinized on a growing number of transactions.

Small businesses who are in higher risk industries, however that is chosen to be defined, become inundated with KYC tasks. Every transaction needs an accompanying stack of documents showing the entire trail.

Finance is becoming a bureaucratic hellhole which disproportionately affects lower income people and small businesses. If you don't have a hired compliance agent you will spend your time as a business owner complying to endless demands for onboarding/KYC/transaction reporting.

[ Parent | on HN ]