Too Big to Jail: Inside HSBC, the Mexican drug cartels and the greatest banking scandal of the century

Too Big to Jail examines how HSBC facilitated money laundering for drug cartels and rogue nations, contributing to the growth of a major drugs empire. Despite marketing itself as 'the world's local bank,' HSBC was fined $1.9 billion a decade ago. Between 2003 and 2010, the bank allowed El Chapo and the Sinaloa cartel to convert illegal proceeds into clean dollars while pursuing its goal of becoming the world's largest bank. The book traces how a bank that claimed commitment to protecting the financial system and was named 'one of the best-run organizations in the world' in 2002 became entangled with one of the world's most violent criminal organizations. The narrative spans Hong Kong, London, Washington, the Cayman Islands, and Mexico, featuring politicians, bankers, drug dealers, FBI officers, and whistle-blowers. It explores questions about the cost of greed, oversight of global finance, and why no individuals faced prison time for enabling the expansion of a global drug empire.