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HSBC’s private banking arm in Switzerland has been accused of money laundering and fraud by a Belgian prosecuting judge for its role in helping more than 1,000 wealthy investors avoid taxes.
比利时一检控官指控汇丰银行(HSBC)旗下的瑞士私人银行涉嫌洗钱和欺诈，因该银行曾帮助逾1000名富有投资者避税。
A Belgian prosecuting judge has formally accused the private bank of assisting rich clients, including diamond dealers, move money to the offshore tax havens of Panama and the British Virgin Islands.
检控官已正式指控该私人银行帮助珠宝商等富有客户，将资金转移到巴拿马和英属维京群岛的离岸避税天堂。
A spokesman for the court said wealthy Belgian clients with money in Swiss branches of HSBC are meant to incur 35 per cent tax on interest.
该法庭发言人称，在汇丰瑞士分行拥有资金的比利时富有客户，本应缴付35%的利息税。
However, to avoid this tax, the prosecutor alleges that employees of HSBC’s private bank advised these customers to transfer their money out of Switzerland into offshore companies.
然而，检察官声称，为规避这些税收，汇丰私人银行的员工建议这些客户将资金从瑞士转移到瑞士以外的离岸公司。
Several billion dollars are estimated to have left the Swiss accounts, with hundreds of millions of euros avoided in tax, the spokesman said.
这位发言人称，据估计，有几十亿美元转出瑞士账户，避税金额达到数亿欧元。
The prosecution is accusing the bank of fiscal fraud, money laundering, and criminal organisation – allegations that date back several years.
检方还指控该银行涉嫌财务欺诈、洗钱和有组织经营犯罪，这些指控可以追溯到多年前。
The bank said in a statement “HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA has been notified that it has been placed under formal investigation by a Belgian judge who, along with the French authorities, is examining whether the bank acted appropriately in the past in relation to certain clients who had Belgian tax reporting requirements.”
汇丰在一份声明中称，“汇丰私人银行（瑞士）得知，一位比利时检控官正对其启动正式调查，这名检控官以及法国政府，正调查该银行是否曾与比利时有报税要求的某些客户存在不当行为。”
“We will continue to co-operate to the fullest extent possible,” it added. Several directors of the bank as well as certain employees have been ordered to testify.
汇丰补充称：“我们将继续尽可能全力配合调查。”该银行几名董事以及一些员工已被要求作证。
A person familiar with the situation said the investigation stems from 2006 when Hervé Falciani, a former IT employee at HSBC in Geneva, allegedly stole Swiss bank data which unearthed the names of suspected fraudsters and tax evaders.
一位知情人士称，调查源于2006年，当时一位前汇丰驻日内瓦IT员工被控窃取瑞士银行数据，这些数据列出了一些涉嫌欺诈和逃税人士的名字。
In December 2012, HSBC signed a deferred prosecution agreement and paid a then-record $2.6bn in fines to the US to settle allegations that it allowed itself to be used by money launderers in Mexico and terrorist financiers in the Middle East.
2012年12月，汇丰曾签订一份暂缓起诉协议，向美国支付26亿美元罚金，这一金额在当时创下纪录，以了结有关其涉嫌帮助墨西哥洗钱者和为中东恐怖分子提供资金的人士转账的指控。
HSBC’s Swiss private bank has also been called to appear before French courts over whether it had helped French citizens evade tax payments. HSBC warned that penalties or other charges imposed “could be significant”.
法国法庭还就该银行是否帮助法国公民避税，指控汇丰瑞士私人银行。汇丰已经发出警告，罚金或其他费用“可能数额巨大”。
