It was the summer of 2007 and I wanted to open a bank account. Passport and utility bill in hand, I went to my local HSBC branch. The staff scrutinised both items carefully, fixed me in the eye and declared that the utility bill was out of date.
I glared back at them, argued in vain and returned an hour later with a new bill and a sneaking admiration for a bank that appeared to take the “know your customer” regulations seriously.
Little did I know what was happening in other parts of HSBC. According to reports by The Guardian, BBC and other media outlets, when I was trudging home to find a more recent gas bill, clients of HSBC’s Swiss bank were enjoying more accommodating treatment.
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