Swiss Leaks is a collaborative investigation that exposes how the Swiss branch of one of the world’s biggest banks, HSBC, profited from doing business with tax dodgers and criminals around the world. 

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked with more than 140 reporters in 45 countries to analyze 60,000 leaked files, some of which provide explicit details of how the bank was aware of wrongdoing by some clients. The total value held in the bank accounts exceeds $100 billion. After learning of ICIJ’s investigation, HSBC acknowledged that it was “accountable for past compliance and control failures.”

The documents obtained by ICIJ via the French newspaper Le Monde are already the basis of tax investigations in multiple countries after originally being shared by French tax authorities. The leaked files provide details on the names, professions and value of assets of over 100,000 HSBC clients, who included royalty, politicians, public figures, celebrities and business leaders in more than 200 countries. It is not illegal to have a Swiss bank account and there is no indication that most clients of HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) have done anything wrong.

ICIJ and its media partners used traditional reporting methods as well as data analysis and online tools designed especially for this project.

The Team

Project managers: Gerard Ryle (ICIJ) and Serge Michel (Le Monde)

ICIJ Deputy Director: Marina Walker Guevara

Data Editor: Mar Cabra

Research Editor: Emilia Diaz-Struck

Editors: Martha M. Hamilton and Tom Stites 

Online Editor: Hamish Boland-Rudder

Web Applications Developers: Rigoberto Carvajal and Matthew Caruana Galizia

Graphic designers: Alvaro Ortiz, Amaya Verde and Mariano Zafra

ICIJ reporters: Will Fitzgibbon, Elliot Blair Smith, Ryan Chittum, Charles R. Babcock

Researchers: Cécile Schilis-Gallego, Marcos Garcia Rey, and Delphine Reuter

Fact checkers: Peter Smith and Crina Boros

Reporters:

  • Rafael Marques de Morais (Angola)
  • Daniel Santoro (Argentina)
  • Hugo Alconada (Argentina)
  • Ivan Ruiz (Argentina)
  • Rena Sarumpaet (Australia)
  • Paul Farrell (Australia)
  • Stefan Melichar (Austria)
  • Lars Bové (Belgium)
  • Alain Lallemand (Belgium)
  • Kristof Clerix (Belgium)
  • Delphine Reuter (Belgium)
  • Fernando Rodrigues (Brazil)
  • Harvey Cashore (Canada)
  • Frédéric Zalac (Canada)
  • Alex Shprintsen (Canada)
  • Juan Andrés Guzmán (Chile)
  • Mónica González (Chile)
  • Francisca Skoknic (Chile)
  • Karen Chang (China / Hong Kong)
  • Carlos Eduardo Huertas (Colombia / Panama)
  • Sol Lauria (Colombia / Panama)
  • Ernesto Rivera (Costa Rica)
  • Javier Córdoba (Costa Rica)
  • Matthew Caruana Galizia (Costa Rica)
  • Rigoberto Carvajal (Costa Rica)
  • Maria Andersen (Denmark)
  • Soren Kristensen (Denmark)
  • John Hansen (Denmark)
  • Jakob Sorgenfri Kjaer (Denmark)
  • Arturo Torres (Ecuador)
  • Hisham Allam (Egypt)
  • Minna Knus-Galan (Finland)
  • Hanna Säntti (Finland)
  • Simon Piel (France)
  • Anne Michel (France)
  • Alexandre Léchenet (France)
  • Fabrice Lhomme (France)
  • Gérard Davet (France)
  • Serge Michel (France)
  • Jérôme Gautheret (France)
  • Joan Tilouine (France)
  • Raoul Mbog (France)
  • Klaus Ott (Germany)
  • Hans Leyendecker (Germany)
  • Benedikt Strunz (Germany)
  • Arne Meyer (Germany)
  • Julia Stein (Germany)
  • Bastian Obermayer (Germany)
  • Frederik Obermaier (Germany)
  • Bastian Brinkmann (Germany)
  • Christoph Giesen (Germany)
  • Robert Gast (Germany)
  • Tanjev Schultz (Germany)
  • Nils Casjens (Germany)
  • Jan Lukas Strozyk (Germany)
  • Petra Blum (Germany)
  • Maik Gizinski (Germany)
  • Andreas Orth (Germany)
  • Harry Karanikas (Greece / Cyprus)
  • Jose Rodrigo Baires Quesada (Guatemala)
  • Andras Petho (Hungary)
  • Ritu Sarin (India)
  • Appu Esthose Suresh (India)
  • Wahyu Dhyatmika (Indonesia)
  • Colm Keena (Ireland)
  • Simon Carswell (Ireland)
  • John McManus (Ireland)
  • Conn O Midheach (Ireland)
  • Uri Blau (Israel)
  • Paolo Biondani (Italy)
  • Vittorio Malagutti (Italy)
  • Leo Sisti (Italy)
  • Alfredo Faieta (Italy)
  • Gloria Riva (Italy)
  • Selay Marius Kouassi (Ivory Coast)
  • Toshi Okuyama (Japan)
  • Gerardo Reyes (Mexico / US)
  • Tomás Ocaña (Mexico / US)
  • Margarita Rabin (Mexico / US)
  • Esteban Román (Mexico / US)
  • Juan Cooper (Mexico / US)
  • Ahmed Benchemsi (Morocco)
  • Joop Bouma (Netherlands)
  • Jan Kleinnijenhuis (Netherlands)
  • Martijn Roessingh (Netherlands)
  • Musikilu Mojeed (Nigeria)
  • Per Anders Johansen (Norway)
  • Sigurd Bjørnestad (Norway)
  • Andreas Slettholm (Norway)
  • Trond J. Strøm (Norway)
  • Mabel Rehnfeldt (Paraguay)
  • Gustavo Gorriti (Peru)
  • Luisa García (Peru)
  • Romina Mella (Peru)
  • Milagros Salazar (Peru)
  • Roman Shleynov (Russia)
  • Tidiane Sy (Senegal)
  • Rob Rose (South Africa)
  • Loni Prinsloo (South Africa)
  • José María Olmo (Spain)
  • Daniele Grasso (Spain)
  • Carlos Hernanz (Spain)
  • Paloma Esteban (Spain)
  • Eduardo Segovia (Spain)
  • Joaquín Castellón (Spain)
  • Marcos Garcia Rey (Spain)
  • Mar Cabra (Spain)
  • Bo Goran Bodin (Sweden)
  • Fredrik Laurin (Sweden)
  • Mario Stäuble (Switzerland)
  • Marie Maurisse (Switzerland)
  • Sylvain Besson (Switzerland)
  • Titus Plattner (Switzerland)
  • Francois Pilet (Switzerland)
  • Mehdi Atmani (Switzerland)
  • Jean Abbiateci (Switzerland)
  • Daniel Glaus (Switzerland)
  • Oliver Zihlmann (Switzerland)
  • Malek Khadhraoui (Tunisia)
  • Sana Sbouai (Tunisia)
  • David Leigh (UK)
  • David Pegg (UK)
  • James Ball (UK)
  • Juliette Garside (UK)
  • James Oliver (UK)
  • Dickon Hooper (UK)
  • Richard Bilton (UK)
  • Conor Spackman (UK)
  • Andrew Head (UK)
  • Steven Hobson (UK)
  • David Thompson (UK)
  • David Howell (UK)
  • Crina Boros (UK)
  • Will Fitzgibbon (US)
  • Marina Walker Guevara (US)
  • Gerard Ryle (US)
  • Hamish Boland Rudder (US)
  • Habiba Nosheen (US)
  • Ira Rosen (US)
  • Andrea Hilbert (US)
  • Bill Whitaker (US)
  • Ali Rawaf (US)
  • Elliot Blair Smith (US)
  • Cécile Schilis-Gallego (US)
  • Martha M. Hamilton (US)
  • Charles Babcock (US)
  • Ryan Chittum (US)
  • Tom Stites (US)
  • Peter Smith (US)
  • Paul Lewis (US)
  • Emilia Díaz-Struck (Venezuela)
  • Joseph Poliszuk (Venezuela)
  • Ray Choto (Zimbabwe)
  • Thomas Chiripasi (Zimbabwe)
  • Paul Radu (Romania)
  • Blaž Zgaga (Slovenia)
  • Milorad Ivanovic (Serbia)
  • Richard Brooks (UK)
  • Pierre Portelli (Malta)
  • Rachel Attard (Malta)
  • Jacob Borg (Malta)
  • Miranda Patrucic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
  • Dejan Milovac (Montenegro)
  • Rui Araujo (Portugal)
  • Vanessa Cruz (Portugal)
  • Patricia Pires (Portugal)
  • Iurie Sanduta (Moldova)
  • Chico Otavio (Brazil)
  • Cristina Tardaguila (Brazil)
  • Ruben Berta (Brazil)
  • Lyas Hallas (Algeria)
  • Jaka Elikan (Slovenia)
  • Blaž Jarc (Slovenia)
  • Mirko Mayer (Slovenia)
  • Vadim Makarenko (Poland)
  • Leszek Baj (Poland)
  • Youjung Lee (South Korea)
  • Inga Springe (Latvia)
  • Sanita Jemberga (Latvia)
  • Sarunas Černiauskas (Lithuania)
  • Eliisa Matsalu (Estonia)
  • Hamoud Al-Mahmoud (Syria)
  • Iqbal Athas (Sri Lanka)
  • Fiona Forde (South Africa)
  • Alexenia Dimitrova (Bulgaria)