A team of journalists from 45 countries unearths secret bank accounts maintained for criminals, traffickers, tax dodgers, politicians and celebrities
The Swiss Leaks project is based on a trove of almost 60,000 leaked files that provide details on over 100,000 HSBC clients…
Hervé Falciani has taken a long, strange journey from bank computer expert to jailed fugitive to candidate for office to whistleblower spokesman.
When accounts in the leaked files list a profession, “housewife” pops up with amazing frequency. But these so-called housewives are not always what they seem.
In this investigation
Key findings
- HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) continued to offer services to clients who had been unfavorably named by the United Nations, in court documents and in the media as connected to arms trafficking, blood diamonds and bribery.
- HSBC served those close to discredited regimes such as that of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, former Tunisian president Ben Ali and current Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.
- Clients who held HSBC bank accounts in Switzerland include former and current politicians from Britain, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Kenya, Romania, India, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Lebanon, Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Paraguay, Djibouti, Senegal, Philippines and Algeria.
- The bank repeatedly reassured clients that it would not disclose details of accounts to national authorities, even if evidence suggested that the accounts were undeclared to tax authorities in the client’s home country. Bank employees also discussed with clients a range of measures that would ultimately allow clients to avoid paying taxes in their home countries. This included holding accounts in the name of offshore companies to avoid the European Savings Directive, a 2005 Europe-wide rule aimed at tackling tax evasion through the exchange of bank information.
About this investigation
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.
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From HSBC whistleblower Hervé Falciani to the French authorities to Le Monde and ICIJ, find out more about the dataset behind the Swiss Leaks project.
HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) continued to offer services to clients who had been unfavorably named by the United Nations, in court documents…
Swiss Leaks is a collaborative investigation that exposes how the Swiss branch of one of the world’s biggest banks, HSBC, profited from…
When ICIJ and its media partners contacted the bank for comment, HSBC initially insisted that ICIJ destroy the data. Late last month, they gave a final response that was more conciliatory. Read it in full here.
A team of journalists from 45 countries has unearthed secret bank accounts maintained for criminals, traffickers, tax dodgers, politicians and celebrities.
HSBC client notes reveal how the bank sold ways to shield wealth from tax authorities – and set off investigations the world over of both the bank and clients.
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The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is a global network of more than 200 investigative journalists in 70 countries who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories.
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