The US, France, Belgium and Argentina are all doing it. So why do UK authorities seem reluctant to formally investigate HSBC’s Swiss private bank over allegations that it proactively helped thousands of clients to dodge the taxman?
This is becoming a tough question for prime minister David Cameron’s government to answer when faced with revelations of tax avoidance at HSBC’s Swiss unit that have emerged out of a vast cache of leaked client account data published by the media this week.
One key to understanding why the UK seems to be going easy on HSBC dates back to a multibillion pound deal over tax evasion Switzerland signed with the UK in 2011. In it, the Swiss state tried to insist its banks would be immune from prosecution.