How a Criminal Network Infiltrated the Bank of England | Hacker News Reader

How a Criminal Network Infiltrated the Bank of England

buzzfeed.com

56 pointssergeant320 comments

The UK is the home of financial fraud. Why are these guys bothering getting insider information to wash money? Why don't they just wash it through London property using an anonymous company like everyone else?

Also let me tell you the next BoE meeting outcome: keep interest rates at rock-bottom because the UK is in a debt nightmare. How will you wash money with that info?

I don't understand the premise here. The "hanging offence" line is laughable. Not a single person went to jail over 2008. The absence of criminal repercussions for financial crimes is the UK's unique selling point.

The BoE themselves tried to cover up LIBOR fixing. If you want to find criminals it's not hard.

I don't like this article as it supposes that money laundering is at the edge of acceptable behaviour in London. The truth is it's rampant.

> “They would discuss whether interest rates were going to rise or fall.”

That must have been boring. "They are going to hold them at the zero bound again or the UK will implode" would have been the answer for five years running.

Where does this rubbish come from? GCHQ misdirection department or a lone looney?

Yes...the title is mislabeled. It should be something more like "How a criminal got together with friends at BoE".

Were interest rates that stable 16 years ago?

No. I think the phrase is "up and down like a whore's drawers":

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/iadb/Repo.asp

Presumably plenty of scope to make money in (eg) forex if you know about interest rate movements a few days in advance.

I agree that there's plenty of scope to make money there, but I don't understand at all the reported hysteria about "this is a threat to the economy of England". No it isn't.

Yes good point, there would have been more advantage in knowing it back then. It still makes little sense as an article and the idea that there is low tolerance of financial crime in the UK is laughable.

>>The source said: “Leaking monetary policy stuff would have been, and still is, a hanging offence,” and an immediate internal inquiry was launched. But it failed to identify where the leak was coming from, so no action was taken and the case was closed.

Well, they would have hung him if they could've found him! So said the anonymous source. Since the quote comes from an official at the bank, and not the authorities, I guess it's a euphemism for firing?

No it's probably another silly UK law that is left over from years ago.

Interestingly the only "news" outlets covering this are Buzzfeed, Russia Today, and David "lizards-run-the-world" Icke. I guess the court order / D-notice must be pretty draconian.

If true, an excellent example of why we need better oversight into government operations and into information classification.

You (GB) need a better government. Or a better voting system and a constitution, while you are at it.

Me? Not GB, CA.

But the point applies, cf C-51.

My statement is true for all democracies, IMHO.

Sorry I was misinterpreting. And maybe my statements are a bit harsh. But especially the last election didn't sit right with me.

Regime change. Great idea.

(Looks at examples.)

Maybe not.

Changing a government or even changing the voting system is quite possible without any violence...

Not while the majority of the population is completely disinterested in any kind of politics other than fear-mongering by demagogues it's not.

The financial industry's major corruption stories seem to never end. They undermined the world economy and even LIBOR was fixed. Its participants portray themselves as champions of the free market and technical geniuses. How is this the 'free market'? It seems more and more that it's merely theft, and some are better at it than others.

Yet I read about its particpants complaining they are "demonized", and every time regulation or oversight is suggested they are outraged and say it will ruin their hallowed 'free markets'.

They seemed like decent chaps, and decent chaps don't check up on decent chaps to see if they're behaving decently. Furthermore there's no point: if they're honest, it's a waste of time - and if they're not honest you don't find out about it until it's too late anyway.

"has been kept tightly under wraps by police chiefs and spies at MI5 for more than 16 years"

Probably not using D notice system for information of that age.

Banks used to launder money? Shocking :-)

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