The whistleblower who carried out the largest banking leak in history told Bloomberg he can prove that HSBC executives knew about alleged schemes to help wealthy clients avoid taxes at HSBC’s private Swiss bank.
The leaker, Herve Falciani, said he can provide “logical proof” that top brass at British-based HSBC was aware of the problems that have now provoked a flurry of investigations. He added that his alleged proof “has to be explained” and that he does not have “documents signed by top management.”
HSBC, the world’s second-largest bank, was rocked last month by a report that drew on the leaks to identify individual account-holders involved in a range of unsavory activities, from arms-dealing to public corruption to money laundering. The client list included royalty such as Morocco’s King Mohammed and relatives of foreign officials, such Li Xiaolin, daughter of former Chinese premier Li Peng.