HSBC should pay for its favoured clients’ misdeeds
HSBC calls itself “the world’s local bank”. Yet whoever has observed the bank’s policy in recent years must be suspicious.
It terminated thousands or tens of thousands of private accounts and closed those of at least as many small and medium-size enterprises, arguing that it could only service big companies and high-net-value clients. No other customers are welcome at “the world’s local bank”.
Among the customers HSBC prefers are destructive palm-oil companies in Indonesia that have received hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. Indonesian law allows for both these companies to be sued for illegal deforestation and also the bank for having made their actions possible.
The bank would still have sufficient funds to cover all the damage stemming from its loans. If doing so forced the bank to suspend business, it would be no great loss to an ethical world.
Ted Eissert
