U.S.-Israeli relations and money laundering

    The hegemony of the United States nowadays relies less on direct force and more on technology through spying and monetary power through imposing sanctions on states and individuals. 
Sanctions wouldn’t have been possible if the U.S. had not asserted its control on the banks. The U.S. has enacted anti-terrorism acts such as the Patriot Act that allows it to intervene in the transactions of foreign banks. This followed another piece of legislation by the U.S. Department of Treasury that requires the same banks to reveal the nationality of their clients to prevent money-laundering and avoid tax evasion. The United States exploited these legislations and used them as a political tool to exert pressure on other states and force banks to reduce loans. 
There is a litany of examples to illustrate this. Among the most publicized of them is the pressure exerted on Russia through the Society General Bank; the record $9bn fine imposed on BNP for alleged violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran; the case with the Swiss bank UBS and the tax evasion controversy involving U.S. nationals; the pressure on Greece through the EU, and the list goes on and on.