Revelations Rides Again, in Belgium

Politicians are often attacked for opportunism. But it is their beliefs which are more worrying. The news that two senators in Belgium – the socialist Jean Corneil and the Green Jacky Morael – have urged the highest chamber of the Belgian parliament to mount a probe into allegations that Clearstream, Euroclear and SWIFT are the chosen conduits of money launderers and tax evaders everywhere shows just how impenetrable the veil of ignorance erected by ideology can be. The two politicians have obviously read Revelations – that entertaining expose of the part played by these humble clearing houses in oppressing the workers of the world – and share with their Gallic counterparts in France an unhealthy obsession with money laundering which long pre-dates respectable excuses such as Osama bin Laden. Indeed, the two Belgian parliamentarians even call for the two ICSDs and the Brussels-based messaging network to be brought under public control. This would make more sense if, for example, SWIFT held assets or managed accounts or cleared or settled transactions or if its members were not regulated to death already. But, as history shows, ideas do not have to make sense to make headway.