HSBC acuzată de implicare în evaziune fiscală și spălare de bani
February 9, 2015
HSBC Private Bank, filiala eleveţiană a băncii britanice HSBC, a obţinut profituri importante din administrarea de conturi secrete de peste 100 miliarde de dolari ale unor organizaţii criminale, traficanţi de arme şi diamante, lista deponenţilor incluzând şi familii regale şi miliardari influenţi.
Potrivit unui raport publicat de International Consortium of Investigative Journalist (ICIJ), banca elveţiană a ajutat peste 100.000 de indivizi şi companii din 200 de ţări să eludeze fiscul, ascunzând identitatea deponenţilor, transmite Bloomberg.
Raportul ICIJ are la bază o listă de clienţi ai HSBC furnizată de un fost angajat al băncii, Herve Falciani, care a părăsit instituţia în 2008.
HSBC, una dintre cele mai mari cinci bănci din lume, este acuzată că ar fi ajutat mai mulţi deponenţi să evite plata taxelor şi să îşi ascundă conturile de creditori, foşti parteneri, rivali politici şi autorităţi.
Potrivit Mediafax, pe lista deponenţilor care aveau conturi deschise la HSBC la finele anului 2007 se regăsesc nume ale unor traficanţi de diamante aflaţi în urmărire internaţională, precum Mozes Victor Konig sau Kenneth Lee Akselrod, oligarhul rus Gennadi Timchenko, care are legături strânse cu preşedintele Vladimir Putin şi care a intrat în vizorul autorităţilor din SUA după anexarea Crimeei de către Rusia, dar şi traficanţi de droguri, ambasadori şi politicieni sau persoane suspectate de terorism.
Printre clienţii menţionaţi în raport se numără şi regele Mohammed VI al Marocului, mai mulţi membri ai familiei regale din Arabia Saudită, prinţul Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa din Bahrain, precum şi cunoscuţi artişti şi sportivi.
În replică la informaţiile publicate în raportul ICIJ, HSBC a transmis că instituţia bancară a suferit o “transformare radicală în ultimii ani”, în principal în privinţa măsurilor pentru combaterea fraudelor fiscale, în urma căreia subsidiara din Elveţia şi-a redus portofoliul de clienţi cu aproape 70% începând din 2007.
“HSBC a lansat numeroase iniţiative pentru a se asigura că serviciile bancare nu sunt folosite pentru a eluda fiscul sau pentru spălare de bani”, se arată într-un comunicat al băncii elveţiene.
Justiţia din mai multe state, între care Argentina, Belgia, Franţa şi Grecia, investighează de mai mulţi ani HSBC pentru implicare în evaziune fiscală şi spălare de bani.
În 2012, HSBC a acceptat să plătească autorităţilor din Statele Unite o amendă record de 1,92 miliarde de dolari pentru încheierea amiabilă a unei investigaţii privind deficienţe în mecanismele pentru combaterea spălării de bani.
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