The French financial state prosecutor has requested that HSBC’s Swiss private bank be sent to criminal trial over a suspected tax-dodging scheme for wealthy customers.
The recommendation follows a lengthy investigation by local magistrates into alleged tax fraud involving 3,000 French taxpayers and is a procedural step that brings the Swiss banking arm one step closer to a possible trial in France.
The parent company HSBC, which faces a separate ongoing French investigation, was not immediately available for comment, Reuters reported.
The bank now has one month to respond after which French magistrates will take the final decision on whether to hold a trial.
Le Monde reported that HSBC refused a plea deal that would have avoided a trial. It said HSBC would have had to pay a €1.4bn fine as part of that deal.
HSBC has admitted failings in compliance and controls in its Swiss bank and faces investigation by US authorities and an inquiry by British MPs after reports that it helped customers conceal millions of dollars of assets in a period up to 2007.
Cases against specific clients of the Swiss bank are already in progress in France.
HSBC said in a statement on Friday: “This is a normal step in the judicial procedure and the outcome of the matter is not determined as of today.”
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