LONDON | By Sigrún Davídsdóttir | One of the things that the HSBC whistleblower Hervé Falciani has pointed out is the mess the HSBC computer system was with all the inherent safety risks involved, not to mention that it made it difficult for the bank to have any meaningful overview.
MADRID | The Corner | F1 pilot Fernando Alonso and Santander bank deceased chairman Emilio Botín, both great ambassadors of the Spain brand, are among the 4,000 Spaniards helped by HSBC to evade taxes. As online newspaper El Confidencial revealed, an estimated €1.8 billion ($2.8 billion) was concealed by Spanish citizens in Swiss bank accounts between 2006 and 2007.
MADRID | The Corner | After the biggest banking leak in history, British bank HSBC admitted on Sunday that its Swiss subsidiary systematically helped big fortunes dodge taxes and hide millions of dollars of assets. Switzerland and the whole industry are under the spotlight: long known for its banking secrecy, the country signed a fiscal transparency agreement with Brussels in 2004 which has proved insufficient. A new, enlarged version of the accord is being debated now and expected to be ready in 2018. But will it be enough? And what until then?