HSBC, terrorism and corruption

There is a huge media cover-up taking place in the UK surrounding HSBC and its business dealings with Saudi Arabia. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has caused controversy by refusing to publish a government commissioned report on terrorist funding, and the media reports that the reason for this is that it will implicate Saudi Arabia in funding Wahhabist teachings in mosques in the UK and funding ISIS and Al Qaeda and interfere with the British arms trade.

I do not believe this is the reason the report is being suppressed. It is well know that Saudi Arabia funds and supports terrorist organisations.  Amber Rudd has already caused controversy over the same issue when she shut me down at an election hustings when I tried to talk about HSBC business dealings with Saudi Arabia. Note, she begins to move to shut me up at the mention of HSBC, before I even mention Saudi Arabia.

HSBC already has a significant presence in Saudi Arabia because of SABB, their Saudi bank, and of course is no stranger to terrorist finance. Screen Shot 2017-07-16 at 14.38.17In February this year it was mooted that HSBC may be engaged by Saudi Aramco, the state owned oil company worth $2tn, to advise on it’s forthcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares worth $50-100bn, and as such will be the world’s largest IPO. The going rate for banks advising on IPOs is 7% so HSBC could potentially be paid $7bn.

Screen Shot 2017-07-16 at 12.04.42

(CNBC)1

In April Theresa May visited Saudi Arabia, together with the CEO of the London Stock Exchange Xavier Rolet

Screen Shot 2017-07-16 at 12.14.32(Guardian)²

 

Significantly there is no mention of HSBC in the Guardian article. Following May’s visit it was announced that HSBC had got the job:

Screen Shot 2017-07-16 at 12.34.18(Reuters)³

But there was still no news about where the IPO would take place. Originally it was thought that it would be Hong Kong and one of the first things that happened after May became Prime Minister is that her husband’s investment company Capital Group entered into a business deal with HSBC in Hong Kong. However, New York is still an option. This week it was announced that the Financial Conduct Authority, already known for easing HSBC corruption, had bent the London Stock Exchange rules to make it easier for Saudi Arabia to hold the IPO in London.

Screen Shot 2017-07-16 at 12.42.26(Financial Times, no mention of HSBC)4

 

There will be an announcement in the next few weeks, probably, that the Saudi Aramco IPO will be hosted by the London Stock Exchange. In the last few weeks I have seen not one mention of HSBC in all the reporting about the IPO in the British media, especially in connection with the suppressed government report.

The implication of all of this is that the British public cannot know about Saudi Arabia involvement in funding the kind of terrorist atrocities we see in Britain and therefore try to stop it,  because the corrupt British establishment do not want to scupper a huge commercial opportunity for HSBC and the London Stock Exchange, and by extension, their own pockets.

 

 

(1) http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/22/saudi-aramco-taps-jpmorgan-morgan-stanley-for-ipo-hsbc-a-contender-source.html

(2) https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/05/theresa-may-lse-saudi-aramco-uk-london-stock-exchange-oil

(3) http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hsbc-agm-idUKKBN17Q0SF

(4) https://www.ft.com/content/433bffef-be26-3801-b9b6-67605a206560?mhq5j=e3