Bank is subject to a suite of investigations as the world responds to revelations of questionable practices at its Swiss subsidiary

Ten days after revelations about HSBC’s Swiss subsidiary first broke, the bank is now facing 10 separate inquiries around the world.



On Wednesday Swiss prosecutors announced a criminal investigation into the Geneva-based bank’s activities, joining a growing list of investigations in jurisdictions across Europe, Asia, and both North and South America.

Of perhaps the most immediate concern to the bank are statements from US Department of Justice officials, who said the DoJ is considering criminal charges against the bank and its clients. Since then a suite of other probes have come to light.

HSBC files show how Swiss bank helped clients dodge taxes and hide millions Read more

In Brazil, authorities have launched an investigation into whether accounts included in the files are linked to a major corruption scandal which in recent months has engulfed the Brazilian government and state-owned oil company Petrobras.

Analysis of the files indicates that 11 accounts held at HSBC Suisse between 2006 and 2007, which in 2007 had deposits totalling in excess of $110m (£71m), belonged to individuals linked to the investigation, known as “Operation Car Wash”.

Separately, Brazil’s tax authority said on Friday it would probe 6,600 undeclared accounts with HSBC’s Swiss private bank linked to Brazil.

In Mexico, authorities have launched their own investigation into the Mexican names in the files. The probe was triggered by revelations last week that 2,642 accounts linked to Mexico are included in the files with combined holdings at the time of $2.2bn.

Elsewhere in the region, the head of Argentina’s tax office called on the bank late last week to repatriate £3bn reportedly held in over 4,000 undeclared accounts linked to Argentinian citizens and companies. The appeal comes after raids last month on HSBC’s Buenos Aires offices as part of an Argentinian criminal investigation into the bank.

In India, tax authorities are expected to launch legal proceedings against HSBC imminently, according to the Times of India. The income tax department is said to be ready to file a complaint against the bank for abetting tax evasion by authorising and operating Indian accounts in its Geneva branch.

On Monday the paper quoted sources from within the department who said evidence had been vetted at a senior level. “The prosecution complaint against the bank would seek punishment under tax laws,” a source said.

Last week, tax officials in New Delhi said they will investigate an additional 1,195 Indian account holders in the files, nearly double the number French authorities handed over to them in 2011.

It has also been reported that India has offered to pay Hervé Falciani, the whistleblower behind the original leak, for more information on accounts linked to India. According to the Indian Express, the deal could reward the former HSBC computer analyst with as much as 10% of Indian taxes eventually recovered.

The offer to Falciani was personally authorised by the finance minister with the prime minister, Narendra Modi, also aware of the deal, according to sources cited by the paper.

Back in France, where investigations into HSBC’s Swiss operation began, magistrates said on Monday they have concluded their investigation into the bank, edging closer to a possible trial. Meanwhile, a separate inquiry into HSBC’s parent company remains open.

In neighbouring Belgium where HSBC also faces criminal charges, a judge became so exasperated with the bank’s failure to cooperate with his investigation last week that he temporarily threatened to issue arrest warrants for current executives. Soon after the judge’s threats, the bank announced it would now cooperate.

Following the revelations, Denmark’s tax ministry admitted that for years it failed to ask the French for lists of Danish citizens holding accounts with the HSBC Swiss bank despite the files’ existence being in the public domain.

Officials said they will now request the names of over 300 Danes who held $730m in accounts at the bank.

The tax minister, Benny Engelbrecht, attacked his predecessors for failing to act. “Quite honestly it is inexplicable that there was a decision to not get the information at the time that it was made available to other countries. It should have been the most natural thing in the world.”