Paris/Hong Kong — A French prosecutor has called for British banking giant HSBC to stand trial for enabling French clients to hide at least €1.67bn from the taxman, a source close to the probe said. The recommendation also names the former CE of the bank’s Swiss private banking arm, Peter Braunwalder, and another executive, Judah Elmaleh. If the case goes to trial, HSBC would face charges that its private banking division offered its customers several ways of hiding assets from the French taxman, notably via the use of offshore tax havens. The banking giant was accused of failing in its supervisory role over its private banking division, but further investigation led to suspicions that HSBC had "participated actively in the fraudulent practices", the source close to the investigation said. An HSBC spokesman said: "The conclusions of the national financial prosecutor are duly noted, and we will continue our strong defence of our interests." The case began when French authorities in l...
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