Bitcoin Forum

I will try to keep this post updated with the large banks that doesn't behave well. This list could be used as an argumentative point, when somebody rejects to do business with you, because you're involved with bitcoins. And because bitcoins could be used for unethical purposes. Extending that line of thought, the same institutions should stop to cooperate with at least these banks:

Standard Chartered (http://www.standardchartered.com/en/) - Hid $250 billion worth of Iranian client transactions that were carried out over ten years (http://www.brecorder.com/top-stories/0/1227745/)

Barclays (http://www.barclays.co.uk) - The Barclays rate-fixing scandal (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18704603)

HSBC (http://www.hsbc.com/) - Drug money laundering, financing terrorism, moved money to Iran, facing 640 million pund fine. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2174785/HSBC-scandal-Britains-biggest-bank-let-drug-gangs-launder-millions--faces-640million-fine.html)

ING Bank (http://www.ing.nl) - And in June ING Bank was fined $619 million for its role in processing $1.6 billion through the US financial system for Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, Sudan and Libya. (http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/standard-chartered-rejects-iran-trade-claims-1)

Deutche Bank (https://www.db.com/index_e.htm) -
Germany’s biggest bank, was ordered to pay 15 million euros ($19.7 million) in a lawsuit over a currency option product it sold to a client.  (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-02/deutsche-bank-ordered-to-pay-19-7-million-in-currency-options-lawsuit.html)

I think you'll find that the claimed Standard Chartered figure is $250 billion, not million (3 orders of magnitude difference).

You stand correct. First post updated. Thank you.

By the time you are done your list will include all banks in the world. Welcome to the obvious  ;D

 ;D

I suspect you may be right :)

Bank Zachodni WBK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Zachodni_WBK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Zachodni_WBK)

froze 3 of my debit cards without reason and demands that I come to Poland in order to get back my 1600€

stay far, far away from them and especially their debit cards

Thanks for the warning.

I have an idea, should there be a site, like tripadvisor, but only for banks ? So the customers could see which banks to use, and which to avoid.

Did you use the card for any illegal stuff? Did you buy it yourself or did someone else do it for you?

I've had an account there for a few years without (bigger) problems and got two cards.

You want some banks that behaved bad?
Just watch "The Inside Job"

http://vimeo.com/24981578

I got the cards from a reseller and only used them to withdraw from exchanges (bitstamp, mtgox)

That guy on talkgold? lol

Wachovia bank (now part of Wells Fargo) was caught laudering $400 million for mexican drug cartels

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/03/us-bank-mexico-drug-gangs

Why is trading with the Iranians "behaving badly"?  I hope your answer is better than "it would upset Uncle Sam and the parasites that control it".  Good for SC for giving them the finger.

Trading with Iran is against Zionists interests. It is just "normal" that the only truth in the world is what Israel and US together with their sock puppet countries in Western Europe say, if you stand in there way, better watch out your back. They will find a lot of different reasons to accuse you, e.g. you are a terrorist, you are an extremist, you have a nuclear weapon in your possession, you are against some UN law or directive and many others...

I think Standard Chartered will not get away so easily with showing the finger.


Edit:

Well prepared video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5N_huInM0k), explaining purpose of sanctions to Iran and US international politic towards Middle East in a nutshell.

Well, if you run a bitcoin business, and you have problems because of fears of money laundering, the traditional system seems to have far larger issues with money laundering:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/10/news/companies/hsbc-money-laundering/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Too funny...



http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/police-raid-deutsche-bank-in-tax-fraud-probe-company/articleshow/17586699.cms

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57558813/german-police-officers-swoop-on-deutsche-bank-offices-in-tax-evasion-probe/
http://www.news24.com/World/News/Police-raid-Deutsche-bank-headquarters-20121212
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/banking/article3629079.ece
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/brian-mulligan-deutsche-bank-police-brutality_n_1834927.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2218137/Deutsche-media-executive-Brian-Mulligan-pictured-injuries-following-fight-LAPD.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-18/deutsche-bank-among-four-said-to-be-in-u-s-laundering-probe.html
http://world-wire.com/2011/09/11/deutsche-bank-faces-money-laundering-probe-over-taib-ties/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-12/hsbc-mexican-branches-said-to-be-traffickers-favorites.html
http://notrickszone.com/2012/12/12/500-german-authorities-raid-deutsche-bank-amid-alleged-tax-evasion-scam-surrounding-co2-certificate-trading/

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke-20121213

http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/14/news/companies/jpmorgan-regulators-london-whale/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2013/01/14/london-whale-may-blow-hole-in-dimons-jpmorgan-bonus/

Not a bank, but relevant:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/01/29/apple-structured-note-goldman-sachs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fortuneapple20+%28FORTUNE%3A+Apple+2.0%29

More bad banks:
http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/01/29/2326242/the-biggest-financial-fraud-of-all-time

Seems like rather there should be some kind of database where all the mischief of the banks could be recorded. Haha. Anyone want to take on that task. Then we could send diplomas to the executives of the top fraud banks every year:

Congratulations, your bank paid 2.2billions in fines this year, and participated in money laundering, tax evation, inside trades, mortage rates manipulations etc. Well done. Be proud! You're a man of great integrity, honesty, a class-act executive!

lolz

If you guys ever find a bank with good behaviour - it's not a bank.

Banks are huge, and the world is a big place... this thread might grow out of proportion quite quickly.

IMO, a lot of banks technically misbehaved when they took government money by means of questionable lobbying. Questionable as in: its members were also active in politics. Oh wow. Too lazy to dig it up though, happened in quite a few places iirc.

Relevant: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/gangster-bankers-too-big-to-jail-20130214

At least 1 person is paying attention: http://www.upworthy.com/elizabeth-warren-asks-the-most-obvious-question-ever-and-stumps-a-bunch-of-bank

http://www.hvitvasking.no/Nyhetsarkiv/Nordea-Bank-AB-i-Sverige-har-brutt-reglene-for-tiltak-mot-hvitvasking-og-handtering-av-EUs-sanksjonsforordninger-/

Short report in english:

Nordea Bank AB in sweden have broken the rules and countermeasures of money laundering and the sanction rules set by the EU, 16th of April, 2013.

The financeinspector in sweden have given them a warning and a penalty fee of 30 million swedish kroner for these crimes.

The money laundering has been going on for a really long time.



 

Why do banks get blamed for things like "drug money laundering"?

When gangsters use Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans for human trafficking, it's not like Mercedes gets blamed for aiding gangsters.  Unless they knowingly sell a van for this purpose.

Good point ... only problem is the big banks willingly went along with all these crazy fungibility destroying digital money-tracing rules because they had the regulatory capture and it suited their interests. They can spy on their customers (and syphon off valuable consumer behaviour data for mining purposes) and serves as barrier as entry to small banks and competition in the banking space.

Now they are hoist by their own petard. They have devalued the worth of their money because it is less fungible, and they must constantly face accusations of providing safe harbour to evil-doers because they claim to be able to use money as a tool for law enforcement (not as a pure economic tool for price discovery) when they should have just stuck to banking ... Of course, now we are all the worse off for it and the economy stinks because we have bad money ... corrupted banks and egomaniacal politicians and govt. bureaucrats who think they can trace everybody, everything anywhere and any time for zero cost.

Well, the cost just showed up and it is big brother, crap money and financial collapse ... who coulda thunk?

Becasue for instance the US govt. has made rules and regulations for how banks should deal with 'suspicious transactions'. For example, it's is suspicious if you every week come with a suitcase full of dollar bills and deposit his at a local bank branch of the same bank. If they were to follow up on the guidelines they've received from the politicians, they should've looked into this, and stopped it if found to be proceeds from criminal activity (drug trade).

As it is, the banks look through the fingers with stuff like this a lot of the time, or deals are struck through unofficial channels, thus as long as there's a profit incentive and the punishment really isn't that harsh or severe, this will only continue.

Chase has been known to shut people down for many cash deposits in combination with international wires.

I know people personally who have had their accounts shut down for this.

I also know other people who have had their accounts shutdown solely for depositing alot of cash (multiple times daily to personal account).

Watch out for chase.

Looks like it was Barclays Bank that is mixed up in Liberty Reserve

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10094589/Barclays-dragged-into-money-laundering-case.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10094589/Barclays-dragged-into-money-laundering-case.html)

From the "so fucked up it has to be true file" ....

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/inside-anglo-the-secret-recordings-29366837.html (http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/inside-anglo-the-secret-recordings-29366837.html)

Banco Ambrosiano (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_Ambrosiano) - actual murders, in addition to the usual money laundering and financing terrorist groups.

If anybody was wondering if the law and courts might also to be blame .... ummm, wonder no more.

http://rt.com/usa/california-man-13-prison-banks-237/ (http://rt.com/usa/california-man-13-prison-banks-237/)