HSBC’s Swiss offices raided by authorities
TROUBLED banking giant HSBC’s Geneva offices were raided by Swiss police yesterday, as prosecutors responded to reports that its private banking unit may have been involved in money laundering.
The latest storm broke last week when more leaked documents were published alleging HSBC’s Swiss private bank may have helped wealthy clients to evade tax.
“As of now, we aim at securing all the information concerning the accounts and clients who have been mentioned as detaining funds resulting from criminal offences,” attorney general Olivier Jornot told Reuters. “What we are looking for today is not yet proof. What we are looking for today are all documents, all information which will then allow us to make an analysis.”
HSBC has argued it has cleaned up its operations in Switzerland, shedding around 70 per cent of its clients in the country and ceasing to offer aggressive tax dodging services.
“We have co-operated continuously with the Swiss authorities since first becoming aware of the data theft in 2008 and we continue to cooperate,” the UK-based lender said in a statement.