Belgian prosecutor threatens HSBC executives with arrest warrants

The Belgian federal prosecution service has said that it will issue arrest warrants against senior HSBC executives if the banking giant does not provide help in the fight against tax fraud.

Leaked secret documents concerning HSBC activities revealed that the bank's Swiss branch helped thousands of wealthy clients evade taxes worth hundreds of millions of US dollars in over 200 countries. Most of the fraud was aimed to secure money in offshore accounts.

Following the revelations Monday, Belgian investigating magistrate Michel Claise said he would issue warrants to any HSBC executive involved in hindering the national probe into the allegations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Owing to growing international and domestic pressure, there had been informal moves made before Christmas last year to secure the names of any Belgian citizen that may be involved in large-scale tax evasion, according to a statement released by the magistrate's office. These names are largely related to the activities of the diamond trade in the Belgian city of Antwerp.

Over 1,000 Belgian citizens are believed to be involved in the alleged HSBC fraud, causing an estimated loss of 5.5 billion euros (around $6.2 billion) to the exchequer, said the prosecutor.

Textile industrialists, artists, financial experts, footballers, doctors and diamond fraudsters are among the Belgians who had accounts at the HSBC Bank during the years covered by the scandal, according to the Belgian press.

HSBC is now facing criminal charges in Argentina, Belgium, France and the US. Authorities in India and Britain are also mulling the possibility of launching investigations into any wrongdoing involving their own nationals.