HSBC ordered to pay bail of 1 billion euros in French criminal tax probe
PUBLISHED : Friday, 10 April, 2015,
Banking giant HSBC said it will contest a French criminal investigation related to alleged tax offences of its Swiss private banking unit after authorities in Paris revealed they have broadened their investigations from the private banking unit to include the global company HSBC Holdings.
HSBC was told to pay a 1 billion euro bail (HK$8.3 billion) because of the French criminal investigation.
“On 8 April 2015, HSBC Holdings was informed that it has been placed under formal criminal investigation by the French magistrates in connection with the conduct of HSBC’s Swiss Private Bank in 2006 and 2007 for alleged tax-related offenses. A 1 billion Euro bail was imposed,” HSBC disclosed in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday.
“HSBC believes the French magistrates’ decision is without legal basis and the bail is unwarranted and excessive. It intends to appeal and will defend itself vigorously in any future proceedings,” HSBC said.
Earlier this year, senior HSBC executives including its chief executive officer Stuart Gulliver and chairman Douglas Flint were grilled in British Parliament, following allegations by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that HSBC’s Swiss banking unit assisted wealthy clients in evading taxes.
HSBC on Wednesday was informed it was placed under formal criminal investigation regarding its private bank’s conduct in 2006 and 2007. The move came five months after HSBC’s Swiss unit was charged and ordered to post a 50-million-euro bail.
French President Francois Hollande has increased efforts to punish tax evasion since his former Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac was forced to resign after his secret Swiss account was exposed.
Paris has targeted wealthy individuals who stashed assets over the border in Switzerland and Luxembourg and advised the banks they used to encourage clients to declare their untaxed assets.
“I suspect this is the French authorities trying to show they aren’t willing to let these issues wash by them any more, but it’s not clear what ultimate penalty this will lead to,” said Gary Greenwood, a Liverpool, England-based analyst at Shore Capital Group Ltd with a hold rating on the stock. “One billion euros is not a lot for a bank as big as HSBC.”
HSBC shares rose 2.3 per cent at 2.02pm in London, paring losses this year to about 1.4 per cent.
UBS Group, Switzerland’s largest bank, was forced to pay a 1.1-billion-euro security deposit last year to cover potential penalties in a separate French tax-evasion probe after its appeals failed.
Judges estimated the Zurich-based bank helped French taxpayers hide about 9.8 billion euros.
French investigators have recommended the Swiss unit stand trial in the matter, and a final decision is pending.
France began scrutinizing HSBC’s Swiss private bank after Herve Falciani, a former information technology worker at the firm, stole client account details from HSBC’s Geneva office in 2008 and passed them to the government.
That information received renewed public scrutiny around the world this year, when a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed for the first time the massive sweep of HSBC’s private-banking arm as of 2007, when it controlled US$100 billion in assets and served a swath of wealthy depositors from the elite to the illicit.
“With all the big banks there’s an expectation that they’re going to face many more fines like this down the line,” Shore Capital’s Greenwood said.
Gulliver told British lawmakers the bank’s behaviour in the past was “clearly unacceptable” and the product of a different era. Chairman Douglas Flint said the bank is “suffering from horrible reputational damage” as a result.