HSBC to Learn Result of Geneva Prosecutor Money-Laundering Probe
(Bloomberg) — HSBC Holdings Plc will learn the results of a Geneva probe into allegations of money laundering at its Swiss private banking unit when prosecutors hold a press conference.
Representatives for prosecutors and HSBC declined to immediately comment on what will be disclosed at the press conference, which will be held at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Geneva. The Geneva Public Prosecutor Olivier Jornot and chief prosecutor Yves Bertossa will discuss recent developments in the probe, the office of the prosecutor said in a statement this morning.
Geneva authorities raided the offices of HSBC’s Swiss unit in the lakeside city on Feb. 18 after announcing an investigation earlier that day. HSBC came under fire earlier that month after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published details of how the bank’s Swiss unit handled accounts for tax evaders and criminals.
Those revelations came from a list of HSBC clients stolen by former employee Herve Falciani in 2008 that he shared with authorities in France, which subsequently sparked tax probes around the world. Falciani was indicted on charges of industrial espionage and violating bank secrecy laws by the Swiss Attorney General’s office in December, which conceded that he has been sometimes “celebrated as a hero abroad” for his actions.
Patrick Humphris, a spokesman for HSBC in Geneva, declined to immediately comment.
