Gordon Lightfoot's hit If You Could Read My Mind provides the soundtrack for the John LeCarre type events occurring in Asian financial news this week.
Our story opens with President Obama hosting Southeast Asian leaders in Ranch Mirage, California for what is termed the US-ASEAN SUNNYLANDS SUMMIT. The first ever such meeting between these leaders and the US signals the importance the president places on the strategic new partnership.
Though some criticized the outcome as vague, the resulting 14-page document outlines how the US-ASEAN Partnership will advance through the year 2020, as reported by THE DIPLOMAT. Under the heading: peace, prosperity, progress, policies are laid out to 'promote the rule of law, good governance, accountable institutions [my italics added], and universal human rights.
The emphasis on 'accountable institutions' reflects to events involving Industrial and Commercial Bank of China operating in Spain. Five ICBC directors were arrested by Spanish police as a result of an ongoing investigation into money laundering and tax fraud. THE DIPLOMAT reports that Spain's Civil Guard and Anti-Corruption Office and Europol suspect the Chinese bankers of laundering as much as 40 million euros or approximately $44.6 million. The report states the scheme of Spanish as well as Chinese crime syndicates used ICBC for funds earned through smuggling, tax and excise fraud, and labor exploitation.
El Pais suspects the total operation could have processed up to 300 million euros.
This wasn't the first time China found itself in this sort of situation.
The Chinese banks and stock market which continue to send ripples throughout the world and Spain's central banks straining under mounting national debt certainly owe gratitude to the vigilance of the Spanish and Europol officials. Perhaps they should be assigned watch over the accountable institutions in the Southeast Asian sector.
Gordon Lightfoot continues:
when you reach the part
where the heartaches start,
the hero would be...
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