Belgian police raid HSBC clients’ homes
Belgian police raided the homes of about 20 people holding Swiss accounts with HSBC’s private bank on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the UK lender’s alleged role in helping wealthy clients in Belgium hide their money from local tax authorities. The raids, which took place in Brussels and Antwerp, were aimed at gathering information to bolster a case against HSBC, not the individuals whose homes were searched, a spokesperson of the prosecutor leading the probe said. "At the moment we are only investigating HSBC and not their clients . . . We were just gathering more evidence to strengthen our case," said Ane Van Wymersch of the Brussels prosecutor’s office. The three-year probe, which involves 90 federal agents, is the latest blow for HSBC. The bank has been dogged by legal scandals in recent years, including a high-profile money-laundering case. In December last year, HSBC paid almost $2bn in fines to US authorities after the Department of Justice said at least $881m in drug-trafficking money from Mexican and Colombian drug cartels had been laundered through the bank’s US operations. Following the settlement, the British bank launched a $700m "know your customer" programme, in an attempt to address problems raised by the scandal. However, the Belgian probe is likely to put the bank’s ethics and business practices under the spotlight again. HSBC’s private banking arm is being accused by Belgian prosecutors of creating offshore accounts for Belgian residents trying to avoid paying taxes on savings they held in Switzerland. According to international tax agreements between the EU and Switzerland signed in 2004, EU member states have a right to tax the interest accrued on Swiss accounts held by their nationals. However, according to data obtained by Brussels prosecutors in 2010, HSBC allegedly put together complex banking structures to shield Belgian clients from tax authorities in Belgium. It is unclear when the probe will be completed. HSBC declined to comment.