the entire music industry just might be a front for drug distribution and money washing. it seems that as less and less records are sold....the execs and artists themselves have more and more money to throw around.
DRUGS and MONEY LAUNDERING have been the FRONT for the GLOBAL MARKET since the beginning of CAPITILISIM go ask the OPIUM traders of the 18th century like the FORBES DYNASTY and the ROYAL FAMILY of the UK and the LEGAL money launderies like WELLS FARGO and HSBC who just whiped thier a$$ with that billion dollar plus fine for MONEY LAUNDERING for MEXICAN CARTELS and TERRORIST GROUPS
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324478304578171650887467568
HSBC to Pay Record U.S. Penalty
U.K.-Based Bank Expected to Admit Money-Laundering Lapses as Part of $1.9 Billion Agreement
HSBC was fined nearly $2 billion for turning a blind eye to money laundering . WSJ's David Enrich looks at the bank's problems in the U.S. and Central America and whether a fine of this size is appropriate.
Tuesday acknowledged that for years it ignored possible money laundering as part of a record $1.9 billion settlement with U.S. authorities that caps the bank's disastrous foray into the U.S. market.The U.K.-based banking company is expected to forfeit nearly $1.3 billion as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, the largest-ever U.S. forfeiture for a bank, according to people briefed on the agreement between HSBC and multiple U.S. agencies.
The deal includes a civil fine of more than $650 million, according to these people.
As part of the agreement, the bank will admit to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, the Trading with the Enemy Act and other U.S. laws intended to prohibit money laundering, a government official said.
In a statement Tuesday, HSBC confirmed the U.S. settlement, saying it expected reach a similar agreement with UK authorities soon.
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HSBC's troubles with lax financial controls first surfaced publicly in 2010 when the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a cease-and-desist order. Bloomberg News
Chief Executive
Stuart Gulliver said: "We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again. The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organization from the one that made those mistakes."
The bank, whose history dates to an era when the British empire was at its height, has spent the past two years selling off unprofitable businesses and centralizing its global structure stretched across 80 countries.
HSBC officials now blame that structure for much of their U.S. legal trouble, which began when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in 2007 looked at suspicious cash flows involving HSBC branches in Mexico and the U.S.