STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 19 November 2014

[Demeter]

22. Top UK regulator sees problem with foreign money laundering rules

OF COURSE THEY WOULD...THE CITY OF LONDON TAKES IN WASHING FOR A LIVING...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/britain-boe-regulations-idUSL6N0SU2ZI20141104

The over-zealous application of anti-money laundering rules is hampering British banks abroad and cutting off poorer countries from global financial markets, a top Bank of England regulator said on Tuesday.

BoE deputy governor Andrew Bailey, who heads the arm of the central bank in charge of most day-to-day financial regulation, said British banks risked being put out of business if they tripped up on foreign money laundering rules.

British banks including HSBC, Standard Chartered and RBS have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars by U.S. regulators in recent years, although Bailey did not mention the United States directly.

Banks fear they could be held liable even if they are only indirectly connected to someone involved in money laundering, and HSBC's chairman Douglas Flint said in August that this was hurting poorer countries.

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"We have no sympathy with money laundering, but we are facing a frankly serious international coordination problem," Bailey told British legislators. "We are seeing clear evidence ... of parts of the world and activities that are being cut off from the mainstream banking system."

"It cannot be a good thing for the development of the world economy and the support of emerging countries ... that we get into that situation," he added.