HSBC files timeline: from Swiss bank leak to fallout

Following the publication of files leaked by IT expert turned whistleblower Hervé Falciani, the global bank has admitted wrongdoing at Swiss arm but insists things have changed 2006-07 Hervé Falciani begins surreptitiously extracting client data from inside HSBC Suisse. December 2008 Falciani is arrested in Geneva. He is bailed but flees to France with the files. HSBC reveals that data has been stolen from its Swiss arm affecting 30,000 accounts. January 2009 French authorities refuse a Swiss extradition request and launch their own investigation into the data. Early 2010 French tax authorities begin informing other tax authorities around the world of the existence of the HSBC files. February 2010 Dave Hartnett, head of tax at Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC), meets HSBC. He refuses to say what was discussed at the meeting. April 2010 HMRC receives the HSBC files. July 2010 The Financial Times reports that HSBC had asked the French courts to prevent the country’s tax authority handing files to HMRC. August 2010 The prime minister, David Cameron, meets with HSBC chairman Stephen Green “to discuss economic issues”. September 2010 Cameron meets Green a second time “to discuss economic issues”. The government announces Green is to be appointed as trade minister. The business secretary, Vince Cable, says: “In Stephen we will be appointing a minister with a long career as a leading international banker, one of the few to emerge with credit from the recent financial crisis, and somebody who has set out a powerful philosophy for ethical business.” November 2010 Green joins the House of Lords. December 2010 Green steps down as group chairman of HSBC. January 2011 Green appointed minister of state for trade and investment. September 2011 Hartnett informs the Treasury select committee: “I think the whole nation probably knows that our department has a disc from the Swiss – from the Geneva branch of a major UK bank – with 6,000 names, all ripe for investigation.” July 2012 BBC reports property developer Michael Shanly has pleaded guilty to tax evasion worth £430,000 in connection with the HSBC Swiss list. December 2013 Green steps down as minister of state for trade and investment. January 2013 Six months after retiring from HMRC, Hartnett joins HSBC as a consultant. November 2014 French judges place HSBC under official investigation for “illicit financial and banking practices”. Belgium charges HSBC with money laundering and fraud in connection with its Swiss arm. Argentina charges HSBC with aiding tax evasion via its Swiss arm. February 2015 The Guardian and media organisations around the world publish revelations from the leaked files. HSBC admits wrongdoing at its Swiss arm and insists things have changed. A government spokesperson says that no minister had any knowledge of wrongdoing at HSBC prior to the HSBC files being reported in the press. March 2015 The French financial state prosecutor formally requests that HSBC’s Swiss private bank be sent to criminal trial over tax fraud allegations.