JP MORGAN BEING INVESTIGATED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING

JP MORGAN BEING INVESTIGATED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING

The Comptroller of the Currency has for a long time been the lapdog of the banking industry.  They are supposed to be a banking regulator but the head of the OCC (office of the comptroller of currency) is more likely to give banking CEO’s a blowjob than he is to actually hold them accountable for banking violations.  And yet – hell hath frozen because the OCC is actually doing its job for the first time in a very long time.

Chase isn’t the only bank potentially doing this.  There are already two other major international banks who have been busted for laundering money for blacklisted governments, drug trafficking organizations and terrorist organizations.  When banks assist these groups in laundering money (not to mention the very wealthy to avoid paying taxes) they are complicit in these illegal behaviors.  They become willing accomplices and that’s a significant thing when you consider how much money the American government (and other governments) spend to combat terrorist organizations, drug traffickers and countries like Iran and North Korea.

And they do it because there is literally hundreds of millions at stake in banking profits.  But instead of reaching a deal with these bankers for banking violations … it is time to start sending a message to bankers … we will throw the book at you and you will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.  These bankers need to know that jail time is the punishment for such crimes and CEO’s will be held accountable even if we can’t prove they knew about it and shareholders will be held accountable because the punishments will far outweigh the potential for profits.

And to add to this … the Republican party does not believe that we should be investigating these bankers for these types of violations.  If the Republican party had its way … there wouldn’t be any probes for these illegal behaviors.  For them – less regulation is the best regulation.  They would neuter these financial regulators and defund them.  They would repeal the Dodd-Frank act which holds these banks accountable.   They are the in the pockets of big banks.  And the guy they nominated for President … has a long history of using offshore tax havens and tax avoidance schemes that frankly aren’t that different from what these banks are being accused of.