HSBC Swiss private bank brought closer to criminal trial in France

HSBC’s chief executive, Stuart Gulliver, has admitted that the revelations are a source of shame and the chairman, Douglas Flint, has said they are “deeply humbling”, The Guardian reports.


The two have pledged to clean up the bank but said they cannot be held responsible for the Swiss bank’s actions.


The Guardian reported that Gulliver had an account at the Swiss private bank and that he also used a Panamanian company to channel his earnings. He admitted the arrangement, which he ended in 2009, looked strange but said it was to protect his privacy and was not related to tax.


Margaret Hodge, chair of the UK’s public accounts committee, has called on Rona Fairhead, who is a non-executive HSBC director, to resign as chair of the BBC Trust over the scandal.


Pressure also increased on Flint this week when Robert Jenkins, a former Bank of England policymaker, called on him to quit as HSBC chairman to preserve his own reputation and that of the bank.


The Swiss revelations came on top of a $1.9bn (£1.3bn) fine imposed on HSBC in the US for flouting sanctions and allowing its Mexican arm to launder money for drug gangs.


Arlette Ricci, the millionaire heiress to the Nina Ricci fashion and perfume house, went on trial last month in Paris accused of hiding more than $22m from French tax authorities via a bank account at HSBC’s Swiss arm.


The trial, held in a special new Paris court to deal with tax fraud, was seen as a test case – Ricci was among the first clients to go on trial over money held via HSBC’s Swiss private bank. More than 60 wealthy French people have been formally investigated since a list of thousands of clients alleged to have evaded taxes through HSBC’s Swiss private bank became public.


Ricci, 73, a French psychoanalyst and writer, was on trial alongside her daughter and accountant. All denied charges of tax fraud and money-laundering.


The French state prosecutor recommended Ricci be sentenced to two years in prison, plus two years’ suspended sentence and a €3m fine. The judges will return their verdict on 13 April.