This is very shocking developmental

I am not saying I agree with the US regulations with respect to Iran and I think your characterization of the events is broadly correct.

However HSBC affliates deceptively and knowingly "stripped out" references to Iran on transactions which went through its US affiliate HBUS; HSBC and HBUS management knew about this.  This was to conceal information from US authorities otherwise these transactions would have been blocked by the Office of Foreign Assets Control filter.  As you say, these transactions did typically relate to instances where both the sender and recipient were outside of the US and therefore not necessarily bound by the sanctions.  HSBC should therefore have not processed these transactions through the US affiliate which is regulated by the US Treasury (and the Federal Reserve during some of the period in question) and subject to US law and OFAC filters.  HBUS management were therefore in breach of US law and could have been prosecuted.  In 2001 HBUS’s head of compliance warned that these transactions could have “involved wilful disregard or evasion” but the HSBC group chairman intervened to continue the information stripping.

I admit the situation was not perfect, but HSBC still deliberately stripped information out of transactions to be deceptive to authorities, although I understand the argument that this may be morally or even legally justified.

Dose banksters knew what dey was doin'!

I'm in shock, Bitstamp looks for me the USA exchange, if it goes down the btc will also go down, we just saw it in the market, but now the price will fall to 850 -800 in gox.  So mad

Bitstamp is not an american exchange.

HSBC negotiated from a position of strength that they'd cultivated.  In their case, a credible threat to burn down the house.

Bitcoin should take a lesson from HSBC about what can be achieved from what position, IMO.

Nothing in any of the Bitcoin Foundations roadmap seems to indicate that they have any intention of taking either the high road morally or hardening the solution against the types of attacks that can pose a threat.  They seem to wish only to lay prostrate as quickly as possible and hope that they are allowed a quite corner in the room to exist.  I'll bet (and literally am) that this strategy will result in a lethal bitch-slap.

Pretty sure undercover agent Mike Hearn was involved in the bust. They sent him to infiltrate BF and start the smear campaign.

He should step down from the foundation ASAP.

They just choose a court and a judge that WILL allow these emails.
Maybe they bring in fake or real computer forensic experts that can prove or do review and decide if these emails are legit.

You can be 100% sure even if these emails are fake, they will be used.

This is all theater to scare people.

Shrem is in the good-ole-boy-secret-handshake-club himself, and the charges are completely ridiculous.

Not following FINCEN "guidelines" is not a crime, as there is no law. Even if there was a law, there is no jurisdiction.

Hopefully, some stupid people will sell and give me some cheap buy prices.