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Threats of U.S. prosecution loom over HSBC Holdings PLC due to reports that it helped clients hide cash from various tax authorities, and to avoid paying historic penalties like competitor Credit Suisse AG, the bank may want to show that it redoubled reform efforts after entering a corporate compliance monitorship.
The reports are the latest round of bad press for the British bank, which in 2012 agreed to pay the U.S. a $1.9 billion penalty and acquire a monitor over its alleged role in...

In her confirmation hearing this week to become the next U.S. attorney general, Loretta Lynch said that "no individual is too big to jail" and "no one is above the law."
But, at least in one recent case in which Lynch was a key player, this may not be accurate.
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice found that British banking giant HSBC plc and its U.S. subsidiary had permitted Mexican and Colombian drug cartels to launder hundreds of millions of dollars undetected, and had...

Background In December 2012, HSBC USA Inc. and HSBC Holdings plc. (HSBC) entered into a five-year deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. The bank agreed to pay nearly $2 billion in fines and restitution, enact reforms to prevent future legal violations and appoint a corporate compliance monitor.
Federal prosecutors did not seek criminal charges despite finding that at least $881 million in drug trafficking proceeds, including those made by Mexican and...

Brian Mahany interviewed by iHeart Radio host Dominic Salvia on The Devil's Advocates show about his historic False Claims Act (Whistleblower) case against Bank of America and other cases Brian is pursuing with whistleblowers exposing fraud, corruption, and waste that damage the U.S. government.

A lawyer from a boutique Milwaukee firm recently scored part of the biggest False Claims Act settlement against the banking industry -- $16.6 billion dollars from Bank of America.
It's just another day (away from) the office for Brian Mahany. His client Shareef Abdou was one of three individual whistle blowers, who along with a mortgage company, split some $170 million in awards paid to them as the whistle blowers that started the massive fraud case against the banking giant.
Under...

Did you know the you can file a “whistleblower” case under the "False Claims Act" which allows an insider to file a sealed lawsuit on behalf of the People of the United States against any company or organization that defrauds the government or public at large? If you've never heard of this before then be sure to tune in this Sunday evening at 10:30 when Al is joined by one of the few attorneys in America to win such a case, Brian Mahany. It was Mahany and his firm who took on the...

Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) has definitely let itself open to further barbs as whistleblowers call the shots. The investment bank doled out nearly $170 million to three people, and one firm who helped bring to the public domain financial misdeeds of the bank. One firm will also receive part of the dole out.
The amount is believed to be one of the highest in the U.S. history.
The first whistleblower is Shareef Abdou, who worked at Countrywide Home Loans that Bank of Amercia took...

Last August, Bank of America agreed to pay out nearly $17 billion to settle sixteen lawsuits over making and marketing fraudulent mortgages leading up to the start of the Great Recession, setting a record in the process. But the details, under the False Claims Act, remained sealed until last week. The big news, according to the Wall Street Journal, was just how much four whistleblowers were getting: $170 million plus.
Even after the IRS and lawyers get their share, those four will enjoy a...

Last August, Bank of America agreed to pay out nearly $17 billion to settle sixteen lawsuits over making and marketing fraudulent mortgages leading up to the start of the Great Recession, setting a record in the process. But the details, under the False Claims Act, remained sealed until last week. The big news, according to the Wall Street Journal, was just how much four whistleblowers were getting: $170 million plus.
Even after the IRS and lawyers get their share, those four will enjoy a...

Being a whistleblower can be a lucrative retirement plan. Especially if you work in sensitive roles at selective financial services companies.
In one 2008 mortgage-related Bank of America court case, in which prosecutors commanded a $16.65 billion fine in exchange for not pressing criminal charges, payments to internal whistleblowers are approaching $170 million, a New York Times Dealbook article by Matthew Goldstein notes.
Whistleblowers collecting just over 16% of the total...