HSBC Private bank in the heart of an international tax avoidance scheme: this is what today show media fifty members of the Consortium of Investigative Journalists in Washington. Media informed of the case in spring 2014 by the French daily
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From November 2006 to March 2007, the Swiss subsidiary of the British bank would have prompted more than 100,000 of its customers around the world to cover up more than 180 billion euros in offshore companies. Among them: politicians, entertainers, business, but also arms dealers, drugs and terrorists. Thus we find in the French comedian Gad Elmaleh (which would have rectified the situation since), hairdresser Jacques Dessange, but also the King of Morocco Mohammed VI or supermodel Elle McPherson or designer Diane von Fürstenberg
It is by Hervé Falciani, a former computer scientist at HSBC PB, the scandal happened. After trying unsuccessfully to sell the files he had copied, he finally sent the French tax authorities in late 2008. Bercy then shared them with foreign administrations.
HSBC Private Bank disputes the validity of the stolen data, but would consider settlements to avoid ruinous lawsuits. The Swiss subsidiary said that since the 2008 crisis, practices have changed dramatically.
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