More than 300 Australians have been identified in leaked offshore banking files that include the observations of HSBC’s Swiss arm about its interactions with clients

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Prominent Australian political and business figures are among thousands of people identified as Swiss bank account holders, a cache of leaked documents from the Swiss arm of the HSBC bank shows.

They include the late media mogul Kerry Packer and the former ANZ Bank chairman Charles Goode.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Guardian has accessed data on the accounts, which reveal unprecedented insights into offshore banking with the Swiss arm of the bank.

The joint investigation, which also included the French daily Le Monde and the BBC, raises particular concerns about the behaviour of HSBC’s Swiss operation in facilitating attempts to evade, minimise or avoid tax.

The leaked files were initially obtained by a former employee, Herve Falciani, and hold details of more than 100,000 account holders who held millions in Swiss accounts dating from 2006-07.

The documents identify account holders, companies they are associated with, the amount they held in their accounts and a selection of file notes written by the bank that include observations on meetings and other interactions with clients.

The Swiss HSBC files add to a growing body of leaked tax documents – largely from investigations led by the ICIJ – that have raised concerns about national and international tax regulation.

A Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance is set to begin in federal parliament, following a series of reports over the past year about the tax affairs of corporate players in Australia.

More than 300 Australian account holders have been identified in the HSBC files, with total holdings of more than $15m.

They include:

The former ANZ Bank chairman Charles Goode, who, according to the leaked files, asked to be identified as “Mr Shaw” in his correspondence with the bank. Goode said he was asked by the bank to provide a name to use with this account for security purposes.



The media mogul Kerry Packer, who died in 2005.

The former Melbourne property developer Isador Magid, who died in 2004. Magid, who is listed on BRW’s rich list hall of fame, is linked to several accounts that held more than $5m.

It is not illegal for Australians to hold offshore accounts and assets, but in some circumstances it can be an offence not to disclose them to the Australian Tax Office.

The bank’s files disclose one instance where the bank appears to have been aware an Australian had not disclosed account information to the ATO. A retired accountant from Sydney, whom the Guardian has chosen not to name, held $857,835 in a Swiss HSBC account that the leaked documents say was “not declared in Australia”.

“To the best of my knowledge this account ... is not declared in Australia and I went through with [the client] the various issues ... that were likely to arise if [the client’s daughter] decided to declare, or not to declare the account to the UK tax authorities,” the bank notes said.

The bank files include details of accounts held by Australians who have faced adverse findings by corporate regulators or courts.

Goode said he had been advised to provide an “agreed name” for security purposes by the bank.

Former ANZ chairman Charles Goode. Photograph: Julian Smith/AAP

“You are talking about a bank account that was never used. There were no deposits (except to open it) and no withdrawals (except to close it). It was inactive,” Goode said in a statement.

“When I opened the account around 30 years ago I was advised, for security reasons, to use my name plus an agreed number or an agreed name. I chose the latter.

“There was little communication between me and the bank and when I came to close the account it took me some time to find the other name used for security.”

The Swiss HSBC account files are the latest in a series of leaks from offshore tax havens to the ICIJ. In June 2013 more than 500 Australians’ details were revealed.

The ATO has been targeting undeclared assets in offshore account holdings after it obtained a different list of Swiss bank account holders in 2013.

In November 2013 the ATO commissioner, Chris Jordan, said he was pursuing a global investigation of Australian companies exposed in a further series of leaks of tax deals negotiated with Luxembourg. In December 2014 the ATO ended a deadline to grant amnesties under “Project DO IT”, which allowed people who might have had undeclared offshore assets to come forward.

At the G20 summit in 2014, the treasurer, Joe Hockey, outlined legislative and other changes to curb tax avoidance by corporations and individuals.

A new information-sharing regime between countries – including Switzerland – would “catch hidden assets and undisclosed assets” as part of a “one-off opportunity to disclose those assets without severe penalty”.

The use of offshore accounts to minimise tax payments – even when it is done legally – has become an increasingly controversial area, as governments around the world try to negotiate agreements to increase information-sharing about assets in different jurisdictions.

The files revealed in the investigation relate only to HSBC’s Swiss arm. The multinational’s presence in Australia has grown steadily since opening in 1986. The bank has signed up to the ATO’s disclosure scheme to allow access to the bank’s data.