Swiss prosecutor searches HSBC offices, opens criminal inquiry against bank

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“A search is currently underway in the premises of the bank, led by Attorney General Olivier Jornot and the prosecutor Yves Bertossa,” Geneva’s prosecutor said in a statement.

HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, apologised to customers and investors on Sunday for past practices at its Swiss private bank following allegations that it helped hundreds of clients dodge taxes.

The prosecutor said its investigation was into HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) and could extend to individuals.

Spokesmen for HSBC in Geneva and London declined to comment.

The bank has said compliance and controls at its Swiss private bank in the period up to 2007 fell short of requirements. But it said the business had been transformed in recent years, adding that many people alleged to have been customers had long since left and that some were never clients.

The disclosures have sparked a political row in Britain over practices at HSBC and whether tax authorities had done enough to pursue possible wrongdoers. Some other tax authorities are looking at the allegations to assess if their nationals evaded tax.

The raid by the Swiss prosecutor comes more than a week after an investigation conducted by Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, of which Indian Express is a member, revealed a trove of secret documents from HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm. The list, known as Swiss Leaks, contains names of HSBC account holders and their balances for the year 2006-07. They come from over 200 countries, the total balance over $100 billion.

(With inputs from Express News Service)