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LONDON – The Swiss private banking arm of HSBC is facing more potential trouble over wealthy clients and their taxes.

The bank confirmed on Friday that the unit, HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), had been placed under formal investigation by French magistrates examining whether the bank assisted wealthy clients to avoid French tax reporting requirements from 2006 to 2007.

The escalation of the inquiry in France comes just days after an investigating magistrate judge in Belgium charged the unit with assisting wealthy individuals to avoid paying taxes on several billion dollars in assets.

“We will continue to cooperate with the French authorities to the fullest extent possible,” HSBC said in a statement on Friday.

As part of the French investigation, the Swiss unit was required to post a bail bond of 50 million euros, or about $62.7 million.

HSBC is the latest bank to face scrutiny as tax authorities in the United States and across Europe take a more aggressive stance to root out wealthy individuals who seek to avoid taxes by hiding funds in undeclared accounts or offshore companies.

Assets hidden in Switzerland, because of its strict banking privacy laws, have been a particular target of tax authorities in recent years, with several Swiss banks reaching deals with American authorities in the last five years.

On Monday, the HSBC Swiss private bank was charged in Belgium with serious and organized tax fraud, money laundering and unlawful exercise of the profession of financial intermediary, according to the Brussels prosecutor’s office. The activity under scrutiny occurred from 2003 to the present, prosecutors said.

The HSBC unit was accused in Belgium of encouraging wealthy individuals to create offshore companies, including companies in Panama and the Virgin Islands, for the sole purpose of hiding assets. The case involves accounts held by more than 1,000 Belgians and includes wealthy clients in the diamond trade in Antwerp.

On Monday, HSBC said that it had been notified that the Swiss private bank was under “formal investigation” by Belgian authorities and would “continue to cooperate to the fullest extent possible.”

Shares of HSBC were up 1.2 percent to £6.32 in early afternoon trading in London on Friday.