HSBC permitted narcotics traffickers to launder hundreds of millions of dollars of drug proceeds. It also facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions on behalf of customers in countries that are sanctioned by the United States: Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).
But instead of charging HSBC, the Justice Department decided not to prosecute people in the company in exchange for HSBC acknowledging wrongdoing, paying a fine and agreeing to cooperate with the government and remedy its compliance programs.
No one went to jail.
Compare this to what happens when poor people are found with small amounts of the drugs these bankers were facilitating: their possessions are confiscated, they are imprisoned, and they become almost unemployable.