The noose is tightening on the Swiss branch of HSBC banking group, following revelations of tax evasion scandal. The Swiss Justice announced Wednesday the opening of an investigation for aggravated money laundering (see ).
The premises of the bank in Geneva were searched. An operation that lasted all day, given the large amount of data to study. Olivier Jornot is the Attorney General of the Canton of Geneva. "The purpose of this investigation, he explained, is precisely to check whether the information has been made public are founded, and if there is de facto reproach that can be made either to the bank or to individuals, whether employees or customers. "
The leaders of HSBC Switzerland provide cooperate with justice. "We have continuously cooperated with the Swiss authorities since we discovered the theft of data in 2008 and we continue to cooperate," has said the communications manager of HSBC (Switzerland), Michael Spiess, in a brief statement.
The British bank HSBC has offered a full page in several British newspapers published Sunday to present his "sincere apologies" to the practices of its Swiss subsidiary, accused of having helped clients evade taxes.
This scandal dubbed "Swissleaks" was revealed 10 days ago by a consortium of international newspapers controlled by the French daily .
These newspapers have studied thousands of data stolen in 2007 by a former computer programmer from the bank.
These data revealed that within a few months, billions of dollars had passed on the accounts of the bank, under cover of front companies and offshore structures.
In France, the investigation opened on the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC was closed by the judges on February 12, three days after the revelations of the newspaper consortium.
No comments:
Post a Comment