Cayman bank accounts linked to organised crime

(CNS Business): The Mexican branch of HSBC is in the process of closing 20,000 accounts in the Cayman Islands believed to have links to organized crime, in the wake of a daming money laundering investigation by a US Senate watchdog committee. The accounts are worth an estimated $675 million, although the total assets in the Cayman accounts peaked at $2.1 billion in 2008. As part of a 335-page report, the result of a year-long Senate investigation, the committee found that HSBC Bank Mexico (HBMX), which held the Cayman accounts, “is a shell operation with no physical presence in the Caymans, and is managed by HBMX personnel in Mexico City who allow Cayman US dollar accounts to be opened by any HBMX branch across Mexico.” Read more on CNS Business