Roll Call of Unscrupulous Bankers Is Unacceptably Long

If the past few weeks are any indication, hubris, deception and amorality seem to permeate the financial services industry.

The latest example came Tuesday when U.S. lawmakers detailed a pattern of deceit and illicit activity at HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank. For years, the bank looked the other way as terrorists, drug cartels and other criminals used its far-flung operations as a conduit into the U.S. financial system, according to a Senate report. As Leopoldo Barroso, a top HSBC anti-money-laundering official told the bank upon his departure in 2008, the institution’s standard practice was to pursue “profit and targets at all costs” and it was “only a matter of time” before it faced criminal charges.