RVAIDYA 
3.The bank repeatedly reassured clients that it would not disclose details of accounts to national authorities, even if evidence suggested that the accounts were undeclared to tax authorities in the client’s home country. Bank employees also discussed with clients a range of measures that would ultimately allow clients to avoid paying taxes in their home countries. This included holding accounts in the name of offshore companies to avoid the European Savings Directive, a 2005 Europe-wide rule aimed at tackling tax evasion through the exchange of bank information. http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/swiss-leaks-news-report-rocks-india-inc-115020900164_1.html
SWISS LEAKS: MURKY CASH SHELTERED BY BANK SECRECY
Key Findings
- HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) continued to offer services to clients who had been unfavorably named by the United Nations, in court documents and in the media as connected to arms trafficking, blood diamonds and bribery.
- HSBC served those close to discredited regimes such as that of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, former Tunisian president Ben Ali and current Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.
- Clients who held HSBC bank accounts in Switzerland include former and current politicians from Britain, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Kenya, Romania, India, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Lebanon, Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Paraguay, Djibouti, Senegal, Philippines and Algeria.
- The bank repeatedly reassured clients that it would not disclose details of accounts to national authorities, even if evidence suggested that the accounts were undeclared to tax authorities in the client’s home country. Bank employees also discussed with clients a range of measures that would ultimately allow clients to avoid paying taxes in their home countries. This included holding accounts in the name of offshore companies to avoid the European Savings Directive, a 2005 Europe-wide rule aimed at tackling tax evasion through the exchange of bank information.
Interactive
Explore the Swiss Leaks Data
The Swiss Leaks project is based on a trove of almost 60,000 leaked files that provide details on over 100,000 HSBC clients. Explore the data to see how different countries compare, and find out more about some of the clients of the bank.
Falciani
Whistleblower? Thief? Hero? Introducing the Source of the Data that Shook HSBC
Hervé Falciani’s has taken a long, strange journey from bank computer expert to jailed fugitive to candidate for office to spokesman for whistleblowers.
Industry links
Diamond Dealers in Deep Trouble as Bank Documents Shine Light on Secret Ways
Belgium, the center of the world's diamond trade, has charged HSBC’s Swiss Private Bank with fraud. And it's not just Belgium – many dealers are under investigation around the globe.
Video
60 Minutes: Stolen Data Shakes Swiss Banking to its Core
The largest and most damaging Swiss bank heist in history doesn't involve stolen money but stolen computer files with more than 100,000 names tied to Swiss bank accounts at HSBC, the second largest commercial bank in the world.
Interactive graphic
Layers of Privacy on Swiss Bank Accounts
The files behind the Swiss Leaks project reveal a number of ways HSBC could help build layers of privacy around a client's wealth. Explore how accounts could be set up, from open and transparent through to obfuscated behind multiple privacy features.
About the data
100,000 Clients, $100 Billion: The Swiss Leaks Data
From HSBC whistleblower Hervé Falciani to the French authorities to Le Monde and ICIJ, find out more about the dataset behind the Swiss Leaks project.
Full statement
'Standards Were Significantly Lower Than Today:' HSBC's Response
When ICIJ and its media partners contacted the bank for comment, HSBC initially insisted that ICIJ destroy the data. Late last month, they gave a final response that was more conciliatory. Read it in full here.
Client professions
The Real 'Housewives' of HSBC
When accounts in the leaked files list a profession, "housewife" pops up with amazing frequency, more often than such lucrative professions as doctors, lawyers and diamond dealers. But these so-called housewives are not always what they seem.
Investigations into the bank
New Law, New Loophole, New Business for Giant Global Bank HSBC
HSBC client notes reveal how the bank sold ways to shield wealth from tax authorities – and set off investigations the world over of both the bank and clients.
http://www.icij.org/project/swiss-leaks/key-findings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8-8r4RSd60
#swissleaks - How Indian Express played its part
Published on Feb 8, 2015
Indian Express executive editor Ritu Sarin explains how much work went into authenticating the names in the global 'leak' of HSBC account holders.
EXCLUSIVE: HSBC Indian list just doubled to 1195 names. Balance: Rs 25420 crore
New Delhi | Mon, Feb 9, 2015
Global ‘leak’ reveals names of businessmen, politicians; set to widen scope of SIT black money probe.
Full List: Top 100 HSBC account holders with Indian addresses
Trends: #SwissLeaks occupies prime position on Twitter
Impact: Reactions galore after HSBC revelation
Explained: What’s new, why it’s important
Swiss Leaks: HSBC sheltered murky cash linked to dictators, arms dealers
Govt reacts: Any additional names will be brought under probe, says Jaitley
An Indian Express Investigation in collaboration with Le Monde and International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Written by Ritu Sarin | New Delhi | Posted: February 9, 2015 2:30 am | Updated: February 9, 2015 5:35 pm
It is called Swiss Leaks — a trove of secret documents from HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm that reveals names of account holders and their balances for the year 2006-07. They come from over 200 countries, the total balance over $100 billion. But nowhere has the HSBC Swiss list touched off a more raging political debate than in India.
That’s why to obtain and investigate the Indian names, The Indian Express partnered in a three-month-long global project with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Paris-based Le Mondenewspaper.
The investigation revealed 1,195 Indian HSBC clients, roughly double the 628 names that French authorities gave to the Government in 2011. The new revelation— published today as part of a global agreement — is expected to significantly widen the scale and scope of the ongoing probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court.
Prominent people on the HSBC list include:
Businessmen
Several top businessmen are HSBC account-holders. They include Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Anand Chand Burman, Rajan Nanda, Yashovardhan Birla, Chandru Lachhmandas Raheja, Dattaraj Salgaocar, Bhadrashyam Kothari and Shravan Gupta.
Several top businessmen are HSBC account-holders. They include Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Anand Chand Burman, Rajan Nanda, Yashovardhan Birla, Chandru Lachhmandas Raheja, Dattaraj Salgaocar, Bhadrashyam Kothari and Shravan Gupta.
Diamond Traders
Top diamond traders of the country, several of whom are now settled abroad, figure on the list, with mostly Mumbai addresses given. Among them, Rusell Mehta, Anoop Mehta, Saunak Parikh, Chetan Mehta, Govindbhai Kakadia and Kunal Shah.
Top diamond traders of the country, several of whom are now settled abroad, figure on the list, with mostly Mumbai addresses given. Among them, Rusell Mehta, Anoop Mehta, Saunak Parikh, Chetan Mehta, Govindbhai Kakadia and Kunal Shah.
Politicians
There are a few account holders with political connections, most of whom deny having accounts. There is former UPA minister Preneet Kaur, former Congress MP Annu Tandon and family members of former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane — his wife Neelam Narayan Rane and son Nilesh Rane — as well as family members of the late Congress minister Vasant Sathe. Bal Thackeray’s daughter-in-law Smita Thackeray is also listed as an account holder.
There are a few account holders with political connections, most of whom deny having accounts. There is former UPA minister Preneet Kaur, former Congress MP Annu Tandon and family members of former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane — his wife Neelam Narayan Rane and son Nilesh Rane — as well as family members of the late Congress minister Vasant Sathe. Bal Thackeray’s daughter-in-law Smita Thackeray is also listed as an account holder.
NRIs/PIOs
Several prominent names include Swraj Paul, members of Manu Chhabria’s family, Rajendra Ruia/Vimal Ruia and Naresh Kumar Goyal.
Several prominent names include Swraj Paul, members of Manu Chhabria’s family, Rajendra Ruia/Vimal Ruia and Naresh Kumar Goyal.
HSBC, headquartered in London, when informed about the global investigation, first insisted that the ICIJ destroy its data. Told about the full extent of the reporting team’s findings (106,458 “clients” and data on major politicians, diamond traders, arms dealers and members of drug cartels), HSBC said: “We acknowledge that the compliance culture and standards of due diligence in HSBC’s Swiss private bank, as well as the industry in general, were significantly lower than they are today.”
The bank added that it had refocused this part of its business. “As a result of this repositioning, HSBC’s Swiss private bank has reduced its client base by almost 70% since 2007.”
Probing the names
The hunt for HSBC clients took The Indian Express from Golf Links to Vasant Kunj and Gautam Nagar, all in the capital. In Mumbai, the account holders spread across Napean Sea Road to Ghatkopar, while some have listed addresses in smaller cities such as Phagwara, Kottayam, Srinagar, Ludhiana and Shimla.
Fascinating details are revealed in the list that includes hundreds of NRIs — for instance, 84-year-old stenographer Annie Meneaud, born in Kannur, Kerala, whose account was opened in Dubai and had a balance of $100,020.
Then there are some mysterious HSBC account-opening statements, such as one named “H.G.P” for a Kolkata-born UK citizen who has given a Carlton House Terrace address and, as the statement shows, instructed that all transactions be kept in the bank’s safe deposit box. This 74-year old client’s balance: $133.52 million.
A scrutiny shows there are 276 account holders with at least $1 million in their balance of whom 85 are residing in the country.
Topping the list of account-holders with an India connection is prominent London-based PIO Swraj Paul with a balance of $386 million. The lowest balance is for Gujarat-born UK citizen Naman Sarwar Malik, who has $669 in his account.
The Indian Express was the first to report, on August 7, 2011, that French authorities had handed over details of around 700 HSBC account holders and, as was the case in several countries, a frantic tax chase began.
In November 2012, India Against Corruption, led by Arvind Kejriwal, had released names of some account holders. These new papers now reveal that while he got some names right, his claim regarding the balance in those accounts was way off the mark.
Govt’s action so far
Top officials of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that undisclosed income to the tune of Rs 3,150 crore ($508 million) has been brought to tax from among HSBC account-holders but pointed out that there were some significant gaps in the data — some 200 accounts with the Government had no balance and 211 of them were of NRIs.
“We are contacting everyone and not leaving this as a presumption. We are putting the onus of proving NRI status during the relevant period on the account-holder,” a senior CBDT official told The Indian Express.
Such updated data is being regularly provided by the CBDT and the SIT to the Supreme Court, and officials said that tax collections, penalties and prosecutions are being chased on war footing.
One issue that has, however, befuddled the CBDT is whether HSBC and its officials too should be brought under scrutiny.
A confidential note dated October 27, 2014, shows that following a video conference on the subject of HSBC collections, the prosecution of HSBC officials was being contemplated.
The note reads, “It has been explained that involvement of HSBC/its officials in opening and operation of the accounts also needs to be identified and reported to the Board… such facts would be extremely important while considering prosecution of HSBC/ its officials as abettors to Indian assessees.”
Several HSBC account-holders contacted by The Indian Express said that they objected to what some described as the “high-handedness’’ of the Income Tax Department.
Kuldip Singh Dhingra, chairman of Berger Paints, for instance, said that he had routed all money in the account through legal channels and despite that he was subjected to a search (around 150 such search operations have been conducted). He has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court as an action of protest. “The IT Department should do its homework before they move in and conduct raids. We strongly object to such treatment.’’
Another industrialist, Jitendra Virwani, chairman of the Embassy Group, said that all his bank accounts had been declared to I-T authorities, but that despite clarifications, the department had told him tax was due for the HSBC account. “I have only paid up to avoid the harassment of prosecution.”
There are many account holders, led by Delh-based industrialist Sanjiv Lamba, who approached the Settlement Commission and obtained immunity from prosecution. Suresh Nanda, himself an NRI, said his brother Paul Nanda and his son Sanjeev Nanda had also approached the Settlement Commission and paid up taxes there.
Until last month, CBDT officials said, 27 HSBC account-holders had paid up penalties and 15 were facing prosecution proceedings for concealment of income in the accounts. The SIT has reportedly been informed that the target number for HSBC account-holders to be prosecuted is 300. But that was based on the list of over 600. Now that the list has doubled, sources said, the scope of the investigation just widened.
ALSO READ: Previous Indian Express-ICIJ investigations
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/express-investigation-hsbc-indian-list-just-doubled-to-1195-names-balance-rs-25420-cr/