British tax evasion probe targets HSBC clients

Tax authorities in Britain have sent letters to clients of the Swiss division of the HSBC bank over possible tax evasion.

It follows HM Revenue and Customs’ acquisition of a list of wealthy British clients of HSBC that was stolen by a former bank employee, the BBC reported.

Hundreds of letters have been sent by the British authorities advising recipients that they are suspected of illegal tax evasion. The bank is reportedly not accused of any wrongdoing.

A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs told swissinfo.ch: “The days of hiding money offshore to evade tax are now over.”

Data from the Geneva branch of HSBC was stolen by a former IT employee three years ago and sold to France. HSBC admitted in March that the theft affected around 15,000 Swiss client accounts.

The Swiss and French governments reached an agreement over the use of stolen data whereby France cannot request administrative assistance in obtaining information about suspected tax evaders whose details were contained in it. However France retained the right to pass the information on to other countries.

London-based HSBC has since spent upwards of SFr100 million ($101.5 million) upgrading systems and improving security.