BY BRAD JAMES
Today (19th February) Swiss Police raided HSBC’s Geneva offices. Forces were investigating “persons unknown for suspected aggravated money laundering.” The Chief Executive of the Swiss Private bank, Suisse, Franco Morra, claimed last week that the firm has closed all accounts that failed to meet their high standards. The bank, furthermore, published several full-page adverts by way of apology in numerous weekend magazines. The scandal is just one of a litany to face Britain’s largest bank in the space of the last week.
Mr Morra has accepted on the strength of the latest debacle that revelations about the old business practices served as a reminder that Swiss private banking proved no longer tenable. HMRC revealed in 2010 that 1,100 HSBC clients have not paid taxes, the crimes still go unpunished to this day in the UK.
Last week, the bank admitted it’s own culpability in the infractions, claiming:
“We acknowledge that the compliance culture and standards of due diligence in HSBC’s Swiss private bank, as well as the industry in general, were significantly lower than they are today.” – HSBC Statement.
The bank currently faces criminal investigations in the US, France, Belgium and Argentina, though have avoided such a tarnish in the UK. Founded in Hong Kong by Scotsman Sir Thomas Sutherland in 1865 and established in Shanghai a month later, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation set up as HSBC Holdings in the UK in 1991 and has since burgeoned in size to become the world’s second largest bank vis-à-vis assets (behind Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – ICBC) and the world’s 6th largest public company – according to Forbes.
As the old mantra goes: “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Recent indiscretions that have come to light over the bank have turned it into a free fall from grace. Although offshore accounts and Tax Avoidance are not inherently illegal, though deliberately concealing money (Tax Evasion) is illegal. Therefore dodging taxes falls into a complex labyrinth between law and crime and when a large number of people have been caught with sewn up pockets in this regard, questions need to be asked over how much was allowed to be swept under the carpet.
HSBC’s establishment connections are deep veined with the blue streak of Tory ink. Although the Tax Evasion in question occurred between 2005 and 2007, the HSBC boss at the time, Stephen Green was made a Conservative peer in 2010, eight months after HMRC had given the leaked documents to the government (the Coalition) at the time. Though it comes to something when the news outlet proclaiming Tory glory most of all, turns it’s back on you, as in the case of Peter Oborne at The Telegraph.
Citing difficulties over working on articles regarding HSBC’s practices, Peter Oborne began looking into how the bank were closing Muslim customer’s accounts. Yet the article went unpublished, The Telegraph informing Mr. Oborne that there was a “bit of an issue” with HSBC. Subsequent articles written, regarding matters such as Harry Wilson reporting a black hole in the company’s finances, to refusing to hold the Chinese government accountable over Hong Kong elections, also were buried by The Telegraph.
Once again, there is an ostensible looking the other way where the British government is concerned over HSBC. To the extent that even the so-called freedom of the press has been compromised. It is a shameful state of affairs when the sanctity of individual privacy – even that of murder victims such as Millie Dowler – pale in significance compared to the protection of large corporations, charged with the stewardship of our money. It is becoming quite apparent that the basis of our worth is dependent on our market value, when banks have reached a point where their interest grows on keeping news and information stifled. It says more about the media who are more than willing to allow this to happen. A media perpetuating entrenched beliefs of transparency, openness, championing causes and justice has now had a price tag affixed to such sentiments, only for the highest bidder to taste such a sweet elixir.
