For anyone who trusts a bank with their salary: HSBC opened its doors in 1865 to finance the trade between Europe and Asia — and the most valuable thing in that trade was opium. Inside: the auction-and-look-away system that invented plausible deniability, the merchant houses moving 20,000 chests a year, the war fought to keep the drug flowing — and the December 2012 case where HSBC paid $1.9 billion after moving at least $881 million in drug-cartel money. Some visuals are AI-generated or dramatized illustrations representing real events and people. All research is original and sourced. Chapters 0:00 Too big to jail 1:16 The triangular trade 2:49 How Britain got a nation addicted 4:10 The merchant princes & the Opium War 6:08 HSBC is born 7:03 Washing money into a balance sheet 7:37 You launder the memory 8:03 December 2012: $1.9 billion, nobody jailed For Advertisement Business and Concerns email: [email protected]