HSBC Indian list just doubled to 1195 names. Balance: Rs 25420 cr

HSBC LEAK REVEALS THOUSANDS OF WORLDWIDE  TAX DODGERS

HSBC  Bank  and customers to engage in tax evasion schemes,  money laundering linked to terrorism and arms trafficking in the biggest banking leak in history.

Hero or Villain? HSBC Whistleblower Hervé Falciani

Hervé Falciani who has dual French and Italian citizenship, joined HSBC in 2000 in Monaco as a computer specialist. Later in 2008,  Falciani walked out of HSBC in Geneva, where he worked as a computer specialist, with the account details of up to 130,000 of the bank's clients including exposed document.

·        7,500 Italian, 7,000 British, 6,000 French, 4,600 Belgian, 300 Danish and 80 Finish clients who held accounts within the branch, many of which were undeclared to the taxman.

·        The 30,000 accounts in question hold almost $120 billion in assets.

·        The Celebrities who held accounts with the private Swiss branch are singers David Bowie, Phil Collins and Tina Turner, supermodel Elle MacPherson and sport stars Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and Diego Forlan. King Mohamed VI of Morocco and King Abdullah II of Jordan also held accounts, though none of the above have been accused of any offenses.

·        HSBC managed accounts containing tens of millions of dollars for Saudi Arabian businessmen suspected of donating money to Osama Bin Laden in 2001 and a convicted drug dealer.

·        In 2014 the papers were obtained by French newspaper Le Monde, who launched an investigation in collaboration with the International. France placed HSBC under formal investigation, and accused the bank of “money laundering the proceeds of tax evasion

INDIA:

There are nearly 1,700 Indians on a list of those who held accounts in 2007 at HSBC's Geneva branch.  Falciani had also offered his services to the government of India, which had been investigating money laundering abetted by HSBC.

Hervé Falciani said that his partnership with India is likely to result in new cases against Indians who have so far not been investigated for violating tax laws by stashing money abroad

 Black money abroad: 350 accounts assessed, 60 cases filed

New Delhi, Feb 9, 2014: The central government has completed assessment of 350 foreign accounts while tax-evasion proceedings have been initiated against 60 account holders as part of its crackdown on black money, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Monday.

"About 60 prosecutions have so far been launched for wilful attempt to evade taxes [S/276C(1)] and failure to furnish accounts and documents etc [S/276D]," the finance ministry said in a release here.

"Show Cause Notices before launching prosecutions have been issued in a large number of other cases wherein further action is underway," it added.

Reacting to a media report that 1,195 Indians were in the list of clients who held accounts in HSBC bank's Geneva branch from 2006-2007, Jaitley said: "The details that have come out today (Monday) are the ones we already have."

"The question is not about names but evidences that we need. Some new names have been revealed whose veracity would be checked by authorities," he said.

Jaitley said the assessment of the balance accounts will get completed by March 31.

The finance minister said the government could not proceed on the "Swiss leaks" reports on the basis of some names.

"Top hundred names have been published in a newspaper. Some of these names already figure in the earlier list available with the government. Necessary investigation will be taken up in all the new cases, expeditiously," the finance ministry said in its statement.

"Income Tax department is already in touch with the whistle blower who apparently brought out the names of persons holding undisclosed bank accounts in HSBC, Switzerland," the ministry said.

"He has been requested to share information available with him in regard to undisclosed bank accounts of Indians in HSBC, Switzerland and other destinations. His response is awaited," it added.

Some prominent names in the media report have reportedly denied having the Swiss bank accounts.

The government had submitted a list of about 628 such account holders to the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court for the recovery of black money.

The authorities, in December, said that in case of money stashed in foreign accounts, the disclosure relates to 628 Indians, who figured on a list of account holders in HSBC's Geneva branch that India has obtained from the France.

Of these, no balance has been found in 289 accounts, according to the SIT report submitted to the Supreme Court.

"Out of the 628 persons, 201 are either non-residents or non-traceable, leaving 427 cases as actionable," the report said. "An amount of Rs.2,926 crore has been brought to tax towards the undisclosed balances in the accounts (79)."

India has no official estimates of illegal money stashed away overseas, but the unofficial ones range from $466 billion to $1.4 trillion.

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal Monday urged the government to act against HSBC Bank to unearth details of Indians holding black money abroad while BJP's Kiran Bedi called it "stolen" money.

"Why doesn't the BJP government act against HSBC officials? They will spill the beans. (The) US did precisely that," former Delhi chief minister Kejriwal tweeted.

He added: "But (the) bigger question is - what did first (the) Congress and now the BJP do? Nothing? Why?"

Bedi, the Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial nominee in Delhi, said in a tweet: "Truly criminal, inhuman when poor man's money is stolen. This has caused huge gap between haves and have nots.

She said the Indian Express disclosure was "evidence of where our national wealth, meant for infrastructure (and) nation building went ... Truly criminal.

"All involved in HSBC scam must get exemplary punishment," she added……..IANS

Swissleaks list of Indians/NRIs

An Indian Express Investigation in collaboration with Le Monde and International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. On Monday, The Indian Express newspaper revealed the names of 1,195 Indians who held bank accounts with a total balance of $4bn in Switzerland with HSBC between 2006 and 2007. The list includes names of some politicians and powerful businessmen.

Top 100 Indians account holders inHSBC

READ ABOUT  HCNC BANK LAUNDING

There is no doubt that Government needs to take strict action against these black money hoarders, unfortunately the problem is – Government itself comprises of people who run this black economy and benefit from it !

•  CBDT, The Central Board of Direct Taxes said that undisclosed income to the tune of Rs 3,150 crore ($508 million) has been brought to tax from among HSBC account-holders

• Around 200 accounts with the Government had no balance and 211 of them were of NRIs
• 27 HSBC account-holders had paid up penalties and 15 were facing prosecution proceedings for concealment of income in the accounts
• On the list of over 600, around 300 HSBC account-holders  will be  prosecuted
• Interestingly, HSBC had a account  such as one named “H.G.P” for a Kolkata-born UK citizen, 74 year old, instructed to keep all his bank statement in his locker , has a balance  more than $133 million

Hervé Falciani

• Hervé Falciani says banks "have created a system for making themselves rich at the expense of society.
• Falciani workrd as a computer engineer at the Swiss branch of HSBC between 2001 and 2008.
• In 2006 he reorganized the database of the organization to improve its security. Falciani has declared that he realized that the way data was managed at HSBC fostered tax evasion, and proposed a new system, which was rejected by his superiors.
• Falciani collected evidence of potential tax fraud involving 130,000 individuals.
• He tried to bring the matter to the attention of the Swiss prosecutor, he decided to activate an internal alarm system available to the Swiss banking employers, the Swiss Bankers Association and direct contact with the government. Nothing happened
• Then  he travelled to Beirut where he met HSBC managers  and  offered a system that does not exist for extracting data from the banking customers. The managers raised the alarm  and  Falciani was arrested, questioned and released.
• In January 2009, Falciani travelled to France where he was arrested, forcing the Swiss judiciary to issue an international arrest warrant for him.
• After searching the address, the prosecutor opened his own investigation, not against Falciani, but against alleged tax fraudsters appearing in the list.
• In July 2012,  Falciani fled to Spain on the advice of the U.S. government but he was arrested in Barcelona due to the Swiss international warrant.
• He was released  and provided maximum security with 7-8  bodyguards and bulletproof vest. He hid in Spain under a system of maximum security protection sponsored by the United Nation
• In April 2014, Falciani was called to assist the Argentine federal taxation agency (AFIP) in the fight against money laundering.
• He wass first in the electoral list of the new Spanish political party and was elected by citizens in Internet through open lists
• Falciani was indicted by the Swiss federal government for violating the country's bank secrecy laws and stealing information from HSBC's Geneva offices and passing it on to tax authorities in France in Dec., 2014
• In the month prior to his indictment, France had indicted HSBC for money laundering

• The whistleblowers Law

• The law protects whistleblowers, and in some cases even rewards them monetarily for providing information about unlawful activities. The public  always counts on whistleblowers to ensure public health and safety, keep corporations honest, and to prevent fraud of taxpayer fund

BANK HSBC:

• HSBC -The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is the world's second largest bank
• The HSBC Main Building in 1901 in Hong Kong, the headquarters of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation from 1886 to 1933 for its Hong Kong operation.
• HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second largest bank. It was founded in London in 1991 by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company
• HSBC has around 6,600 offices in 80 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and around 60 million customers. As of 31 December 2013, it had total assets of $2.671 trillion, of which roughly half were in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and a quarter in each of Asia-Pacific and the Americas
• In the six months to 30 June 2014, the bank reported a £7.33 billion ($12.34 billion) profit before tax, down from $14.07 billion for the comparable period in 2013
• HSBC has a dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange
• HSBC Holdings plc was established in the United Kingdom in 1991 as the parent company to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in preparation for its purchase of the UK-based Midland Bank
• In 1980, HSBC acquired a 51% shareholding in US-based Marine Midland Bank, which it extended to full ownership in 1987.
• Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of the Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $1bn in March 1997 and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $600m in May 1997.
• In May 1999, HSBC expanded its presence in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.3bn,
• in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, a large French bank for £6.6bn
• In July 2001 HSBC bought Denmirbank an insolvent Turkish bank.
•  In July 2002, Arthur Andersen announced that HSBC USA, Inc.,
• August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, Mexico's third largest retail bank for $1.1bn
• In November 2002, HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of Sir John Bond, it spent £9 billion (US$15.5 billion) to acquire Household Finance Corporation (HFC), a US credit card issuer and subprime lender
• In September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8m
• In December 2007 HSBC acquired the Chinese Bank in Taiwan.
•  In May 2008, HSBC acquired IL&FS Investment, an Indian retail broking firm
• As of 2012, it was the world's largest bank in terms of assets and sixth-largest public company,

•  

• HSBC fined $1.92 billion:

• HSBC Accused of money-laundering for drug dealers and state sponsors of terrorism:   HSBC agreed to pay a record $1.92 billion fine in this money laundering case on 11 December 2012.

• On 11 December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay a record $1.92 billion fine in this money laundering case. "Bank officials repeatedly ignored internal warnings that HSBC's monitoring systems were inadequate, the Justice Department said.
• In 2012, HSBC was the subject of hearings of the U.S. Senate permanent subcommittee for investigations for severe deficiencies in its anti money laundering practices. On 16 July the committee presented its findings. Among other things it concludes that HSBC has been transferring $7 billion in banknotes from its Mexican to its US subsidiary, much of it related to drug dealing, was disregarding terrorist financing links and was actively circumventing U.S. safeguards to block transactions involving terrorists, drug lords and rogue regimes, including hiding $19.4 billion in transactions with Iran.
•  In 2008, for example, the CEO of HSBC Mexico was told that Mexican law enforcement had a recording of a Mexican drug lord saying that HSBC Mexico was the place to launder money
• In March 2009, HSBC announced that it would shut down the branch network of its HSBC Finance arm in the U.S., leading to nearly 6,000 job losses and leaving only the credit card business to continue operating
• In 2005, Bloomberg Markets magazine accused HSBC of money-laundering for drug dealers and state sponsors of terrorism
• In June 2014, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary HSBC Life (UK) Limited agreed to sell its £4.2 billion UK pensions business to Swiss Re
• August 2011: Further to CEO Stuart Gulliver's plan to cut $3.5 billion in costs over the next 2 years, HSBC announced that it will cut 25,000 jobs and exit from 20 countries by 2013 in addition to 5,000 job- cuts announced earlier in the year
• ·         Belgium may issue an international arrest warrant for some of the bank’s directors on the grounds that they are not co-operating in a money-laundering investigation