HSBC's Geneva offices searched in Swiss probe

HSBC has come under scrutiny around the world for helping tax evaders

Authorities searched the offices of HSBC Holdings Plc's Swiss private bank in Geneva, on Wednesday, as part of a probe into money laundering.

Prosecutor Yves Bertossa left at about 10:45 am local time after over an hour in the bank's office on Quai des Bergues, the main office for its global private banking division. He declined to comment beyond confirming the search and drove off in a white station wagon with a half-dozen other plain-clothed officials.

HSBC has come under scrutiny around the world since the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released details on February 8, of how the bank's Swiss unit handled accounts for tax evaders and criminals. It was based on a list of HSBC clients stolen by a former information- technology employee in 2008 that sparked tax investigations in countries including the US, Argentina, France and Greece.

The Geneva prosecutor announced its investigation on Wednesday morning, saying it was acting after recent "public disclosures." While some names had emerged before, the report last week drew from a more comprehensive list of accounts associated with more than 100,000 people and legal entities from more than 200 nations.

"We have cooperated continuously with the Swiss authorities since first becoming aware of the data theft in 2008 and we continue to do so," London-based HSBC said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Patrick Humphris, a spokesman for HSBC's private bank, declined to comment further.

In a full-page advertisement published in several British newspaper over the weekend, chief executive Stuart Gulliver offered "sincerest apologies". He wrote, the Swiss private bank had been "completely overhauled" since 2008 and 106 of 140 clients mentioned in files cited by ICIJ and other media are no longer with HSBC.

While Switzerland opened an investigation into Herve Falciani - a self-described whistle-blower who stole client-account details from the bank's Geneva office and turned them over to the French government - no criminal inquiry into money laundering had been disclosed before Wednesday. HSBC account holders included drug cartels, arms dealers and fugitive diamond merchants, according to ICIJ.

The Daily Telegraph commentator resigns over HSBC coverage

The chief political commentator for The Daily Telegraph has resigned over the British newspaper's coverage of the HSBC scandal, alleging it was part of a pattern to downplay critical coverage of the bank in order to preserve lucrative advertising contracts. Peter Oborne accused the newspaper of carrying out a form of "fraud on its readers" by providing such limited coverage of leaked records showing that the bank helped wealthy clients avoid paying taxes.

Oborne alleges in an article on the Open Democracy website that readers "needed a microscope" to find the newspaper's coverage. The daily denied the allegations, while HSBC declined to comment. ap