HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver memo: “Sometimes we failed to live up to standards expected by society” February 13, 2015 HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver has admitted in a memo to the bank's staff that it failed to live up to expectations, after it was accused of helping thousands of customers of its Swiss private banking arm to evade tax. Reuters reported today that the memo also indicated he had been called to give evidence to "lawmakers". [...]
HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver memo: “Sometimes we failed to live up to standards expected by society” February 13, 2015 HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver has admitted in a memo to the bank's staff that it failed to live up to expectations, after it was accused of helping thousands of customers of its Swiss private banking arm to evade tax. Reuters reported today that the memo also indicated he had been called to give evidence to "lawmakers". [...]
HSBC bosses Douglas Flint and Lin Homer to face parliament over Swiss tax evasion unit February 12, 2015 HSBC’s chairman will face MPs this month to explain what the bank has done to stop its Swiss unit helping customers to evade taxes. Douglas Flint has been summoned by the Treasury Select Committee, along with HMRC boss Lin Homer. The bank and the taxman have faced a storm of criticism this week on [...]
Lord Stanley Fink: The Godfather of the hedge fund industry February 12, 2015 Despite being labelled a tax avoider by Ed Miliband, there’s more to Lord Fink than meets the eye. Lord (Stanley) Fink came under fire from Ed Miliband in Parliament this week, who accused the Tory donor and former party treasurer of tax avoidance. But as the spat continued through yesterday, a number of high-profile tweeters [...]
Lord Fink vs Ed Miliband: When is nasty tax avoidance just sensible tax planning? February 12, 2015 The bitter parliamentary row on tax avoidance is a funny old spat – nobody caught in the cross-fire seems to have broken the law, and most of the supposedly nefarious avoidance is making use of rules that were deliberately brought in by governments to cut tax bills. So The Capitalist wants to know when does good [...]
Lord Fink’s “vanilla” tax avoidance: What does it mean, and how is it different from HSBC’s alleged practices? February 12, 2015 Tory peer Lord Fink has admitted avoiding paying tax while working in Geneva, but says his actions were “vanilla” in nature and that he was not involvement in the allegations currently plaguing the Swiss arm of HSBC. The former hedge fund manager is a client of the bank, which came under fire earlier [...]
Treasury Select Committee to launch HSBC tax inquiry as HMRC calls in the police February 12, 2015 The Treasury Select Committee has confirmed it will launch an inquiry into HSBC's Swiss private bank. The committee, headed by Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, will take oral evidence from both the bank and HMRC executives as it attempts to get to the bottom of the hot potato issue that has dominated this week. Tyrie [...]
Ed Miliband clashes with Lord Fink over HSBC tax avoidance claims February 11, 2015 Labour leader Ed Miliband yesterday pointed the finger at Conservative party treasurer Lord Fink alleging he was involved in tax avoidance as part of the growing scandal surrounding HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm. “Let’s take Stanley Fink who gave £3m to the Conservative Party. He [David Cameron] actually appointed him as Treasurer of the Tory [...]
Taxman gives leaked HSBC data to the police and fraud squad February 11, 2015 MORE tax dodgers could face prosecution as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) yesterday said it would give a trove of leaked data to the police. MPs rowed viciously with tax officials over the case, which involved information from HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm. HMRC has raised £135m for the exchequer, but only prosecuted one tax evader. [...]
PMQs descends into mud-slinging match as Cameron and Miliband attempt to distance themselves from HSBC tax taint February 11, 2015 HSBC dominated Prime Minister's Questions today as David Cameron and Ed Miliband traded insults over which party had closest ties to those clients on the list of alleged tax evaders. The two took turns to sling mud at each other over the matter, with the Labour leader describing his counterpart as a "dodgy Prime [...]