Australia’s largest banking and finance institutions have defended their corporate tax affairs and have rejected claims the tax system is “fundamentally flawed”, in submissions to a Senate inquiry. On Monday an international investigation exposed how the Swiss arm of the HSBC bank helped wealthy clients dodge taxes around the world…. – Continue reading
The charitable foundation run by Hillary Clinton and her family has received as much as $81m from wealthy international donors who were clients of HSBC’s controversial Swiss bank. Leaked files from HSBC’s Swiss banking division reveal the identities of seven donors to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation with… – Continue reading
The Guardian’s very “word-heavy” front page is entirely taken up with details about what the paper calls “questionable practices” at a subsidiary of HSBC – one of the world’s largest banks. The paper says the financial institution’s private Swiss bank “helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars… – Continue reading
GENEVA: HSBC’s Swiss banking arm, which according to leaked documents helped wealthy customers avoid millions in taxes in the past, insisted Monday it has since undergone a “radical transformation”. “HSBC’s Swiss Private Bank began a radical transformation in 2008 to prevent its services from being used to evade taxes or… – Continue reading
Racehorse trainer says matter is now resolved and company fully tax-compliant Irish racehorse trainer Aidan O’Brien (45) is among the Irish people who feature in the files from HSBC Private Banking in Geneva given to the Revenue Commissioners in 2010. The files indicate that the mail relating to his and… – Continue reading
International clients include those involved in arms trade and blood diamondsA huge cache of secret files from the Swiss branch of one of the world’s largest banks includes Irish people who made tax settlements with the Revenue Commissioners for more than €4.5 million. Other clients include arms dealers who sold… – Continue reading
French newspaper Le Monde published details on a scandalous report revealing a tax evasion scheme in the Swiss branch of HSBC on Sunday. Bulgaria is also said to have been a part of the illegal dealings with EUR 380,8 M and 74 bank customers. According to authorities, over EUR 180,6… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 9: The “door for dialogue” with India remains open despite the current “difficult environment” on the tax-related information sharing front, the Swiss Finance Ministry has said. In a just released annual report on International Financial and Tax Matters 2015, Switzerland has admitted that its relations with India… – Continue reading
The former ANZ Bank chairman Charles Goode held an account with HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm and asked to be identified only as “Mr Shaw” in his dealings with the bank, according to file notes in leaked bank documents. Goode – who maintains close ties to the Liberal party and… – Continue reading
As countries share more information, opportunities to squirrel away cash abroad will continue to narrow AMONG the sins that have most angered the austerity-weary everywhere is the use of undeclared offshore accounts to stash the wealth of the rich. Greeks were particularly enraged when data stolen from Swiss banks showed… – Continue reading
Offshore yuan bond issues are set to fall this year for the first time since the Hong Kong market began in 2007 as funding costs have become more expensive than in mainland China. The dim sum market, as the offshore yuan bond market is known, had expanded rapidly since its… – Continue reading
Emirates Investment Bank yesterday said its total assets under management jumped 81 per cent last year as the economy boomed and the UAE’s safe haven status continued to attract funds from politically troubled countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Total assets under management increased to… – Continue reading
IRS threatens 30% withholding tax on non-compliant banks Dubai: Many people, including American citizens working in the Gulf state, received recently letters from their UAE-based banks asking them for more details and papers in compliance with American laws introduced by tax service. The move comes as many citizens of the… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The hunt for black money stashed abroad is moving beyond Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Over the last fortnight, at least ten individuals — all from Mumbai and holding shares of companies in the Caribbean tax haven British Virgin Islands (BVI) — have been told by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to… – Continue reading
LIGHTNING RELEASES (1/30/2015) – Attorney Gary S. Wolfe of The Wolfe Law Group is pleased to announce, after 12 years of research, the publication of his 10th book, Offshore Tax Evasion: The IRS and Swiss Banks, now available for immediate download through the Amazon Kindle store. Switzerland is the epicenter… – Continue reading
The IRS recently announced an expansion of the list of banks and advisors that trigger the highest penalty bracket within its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program. The addition of Sovereign Management & Legal, Ltd. and Bank Leumi to the increased penalty list will have repercussions in Asia, Israel and the United… – Continue reading
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has posted tax investigators to foreign embassies to lead a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) crackdown on suspected tax evasion. The Asia Pacific financial centres of Hong and Singapore are two of the main targets, according to industry experts. The move follows claims… – Continue reading
This story has been updated. At her confirmation hearing Wednesday, attorney general-designate Loretta Lynch said she has been “very aggressive” in pursuing white-collar crime. “At the outset, no individual is ‘too big to jail.’ And no one is above the law,” said Lynch. Yet according to a new report from… – Continue reading
The IRS is harping again on the dangers of hiding money or assets in unreported offshore accounts, this time as part of its Dirty Dozen tax scams over 12 days for the 2015 tax filing season. In fact, the IRS has trumpeted the issue for over 5 years. Plainly, violations… – Continue reading
Jan 20 (Agencies): The Modi government has decided not to divulge details of the 627 account holders being probed in the black money case. On Monday, the centre filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court asking it to dismiss senior advocate Ram Jethmalani’s petition that seeks details of the 627… – Continue reading
BUENOS AIRES] Argentina said on Monday it was suspending HSBC Bank Argentina’s right to transfer money abroad for 30 days due to “irregularities”, two months after charging it with helping clients evade taxes by siphoning their funds off to Switzerland. HSBC Bank Argentina has failed to fulfill a pledge to… – Continue reading
Bonds issued by Kaisa Group rose sharply on Tuesday after the embattled Chinese property developer said it had received a waiver from HSBC Holdings on a loan it failed to repay in late December 2014. Kaisa, which is struggling with the sudden departure of senior executives, government officials blocking sales… – Continue reading
The man who blew the whistle on the HSBC tax scandal tells Sky he first raised concerns seven years ago, when Labour was in power. Herve Falciani, the man who exposed a tax scandal at HSBC by leaking thousands of account details from a Geneva branch, says he first raised… – Continue reading
Bangladesh central bank has summoned local HSBC officials over recent reports in global media alleging the bank’s involvement in helping clients to evade taxes. The multinational bank’s Dhaka officials have been asked to come to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Thursday. “Recent media reports claim that a lot of people… – Continue reading
Buenos Aires (AFP) – Authorities raided the Buenos Aires offices of British bank HSBC on Wednesday investigating alleged tax evasion involving more than 4,000 influential locals’ Swiss accounts, a court source said. About 100 agents took part in the raid, the source said, adding the bank gave “court authorities the… – Continue reading
Argentinean Authorities Allege Bank Aided in Providing Secret Swiss Accounts A group of federal tax bureau agents and 100 police officers raided the downtown Buenos Aires offices of British bank HSBC on Wednesday, January 7. The Argentinean government is investigating the bank over alleged tax evasion and money laundering. In… – Continue reading
HSBC, Sovereign, FedEx, DHL & UPS all expecting summons from IRS American IRS officials are said to be carrying out investigative work concerning FATCA transgressions from the American Consulate in Hong Kong, according to a report issued in the South China Morning Post. The article quoted Travis Benjamin, a Partner… – Continue reading
HSBC Holdings and the city of Hong Kong, which were last month linked to an international tax evasion network, are currently under scrutiny as part of efforts by U.S. authorities to hunt down American tax evaders, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported Monday, citing lawyers. Official with the U.S…. – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The government needs to assure against any “witch-hunt” to make the compliance window under the new black money law a success and it’s a “pity” that the people do not believe its credibility, HSBC’s India head Naina Lal Kidwai has said. Stating that the persons taking advantage of… – Continue reading
The Income Tax Department has informed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money that prosecution proceedings for non-furnishing of account details by Indians stashing black money abroad are in progress in 27 cases (under Section 276 D of the I-T Act) and has even filed a case in court… – Continue reading
About 10 years ago Citigroup’s then chief executive Chuck Prince started his global apology tour, aimed at mending relationships with regulators and bolstering Citi’s reputation. Tokyo was the first stop. The US bank had been embroiled in scandals that led to the termination of its Japanese private banking licence. To… – Continue reading
Corruption is feared to be worsening in China, Turkey and other fast-growing economies, an anti-graft watchdog warned Wednesday, also urging the world’s banking centres to help combat sleaze and money-laundering. Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which ranked Sudan, North Korea and Somalia as the worst offenders… – Continue reading
Argentina and Belgium have separately accused HSBC bank’s Geneva branch of setting up a network of offshore accounts to help their citizens avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes. The Belgian charges were filed Monday and the Argentine charges were announced Friday. HSBC, formerly known as Hong Kong & Shanghai… – Continue reading
Top cable firm, lawmaker allegedly stashed funds in Swiss accounts Argentina’s top cable-TV operator, a former professional soccer player and a lawmaker are among the holders of some 4,000 secret Swiss bank accounts used to evade taxes, the Argentine tax agency said on Friday. The agency’s revelation came a day… – Continue reading
Even though it was the French tax office that handed over encrypted information to AFIP head Ricardo Echegaray, the source of the revelations was former HSBC employee and whistleblower Hervé Falciani, a man responsible for giving the details of up to 130,000 Swiss bank accounts he suspected were linked with… – Continue reading
Even as Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said a heavy tax regime was responsible for black money, his ministerial colleague M Venkaiah Naidu told parliament amidst uproar that BJP had never promised to bring back black money stashed aboard in first 100 days of power. Reading BJP manifesto, Naidu,… – Continue reading
With the Opposition targeting the government on the black money issue, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the identity of 427 foreign account holders has been established, of which 250 have admitted to having these accounts. Replying to a debate on the issue, Jaitley said… – Continue reading
UPDATE 1-Argentina charges HSBC with aiding tax evasion via Swiss accounts AFIP said it received the information on the secret accounts from France, which last week placed HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm under formal investigation for possibly aiding tax evasion. “We denounce the existence of an illegal platform created by… – Continue reading
BUENOS AIRES — Argentina’s tax agency accused the HSBC bank on Thursday of helping more than 4,000 Argentines evade taxes by placing their money in secret Swiss accounts. The head of country’s AFIP tax agency, Ricardo Echegaray, said Argentine citizens had evaded about $3 billion in taxes that were handled… – Continue reading
HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) will pay $12.5 million to settle claims that its Swiss private-banking unit solicited U.S. investors without being registered. HSBC Private Bank Suisse SA improperly amassed as many as 368 U.S. client accounts after starting to provide cross-border services more than 10 years ago, the SEC said… – Continue reading
RBC Wealth Management has announced plans to discontinue its private wealth management business in the Caribbean. The strategy to “realign certain businesses within [its] international operations” was presented to staff in an internal memorandum last Thursday. It is not clear whether the business will be closed or sold. Paul French,… – Continue reading
Arlette Ricci accused of hiding money from France’s tax authorities in test case related to the HSBC tax-avoidance scandal Arlette Ricci’s name is on a list handed over by an HSBC Private Bank employee of French citizens alleged to have hidden cash in offshore accounts. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images The… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Regulators fined six major banks a total of $4.3 billion for failing to stop traders from trying to manipulate the foreign exchange market, following a yearlong global investigation. HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc, UBS AG and Bank of… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Former minister of state for external affairs in the UPA regime, Preneet Kaur, figures in the list of 627 names of Indians holding accounts in foreign banks, which was submitted by the Centre to the Supreme Court. Kaur, wife of former Punjab CM and Congress’s deputy leader in… – Continue reading
New Delhi,Oct 30 (TruthDive): Black money stashed abroad could have been easily got back if India had been a signatory to a UN convention of double taxation treaty agreements (DTAA). By signing to this convention, India can renegotiate DTTA and bring it in line with the country’s taxation law and… – Continue reading
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times New Delhi, October 29, 2014 First Published: 09:16 IST(29/10/2014) | Last Updated: 10:26 IST(30/10/2014) The government on Wednesday submitted a list of 627 Indians holding accounts in HSBC Bank, Geneva, to the Supreme Court, which directed its special investigating team (SIT) to examine them and take… – Continue reading
Furious at what it sees as the Modi government’s flip-flops on the black money issue and selective revelation of names of Indians holding foreign bank accounts, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered it to disclose by Wednesday the names of around 800 holders of accounts abroad. A bench led by… – Continue reading
The government may have revealed the names of three black money account holders, but will it be able to get the money back or catch big fishes who have stashed the illegal money in tax havens across the globe. As of now it seems impossible. With at least three different… – Continue reading
A week after a high-level delegation of the revenue department met Swiss authorities in a bid to persuade them to assist with details of the 700-odd Indians who are reported to have bank accounts with the HSBC Bank in Geneva, the NDA government is set to send the first batch… – Continue reading
Echegaray says account holders can take part in country’s fiscal amnesty If Argentines who hold 4,040 undeclared bank accounts in Switzerland don’t normalize their fiscal status and pay their debts, the AFIP tax bureau will file a complaint before the Office of Economic Crime and Money-Laundering (PROCELAC) requesting it investigates… – Continue reading
