The US authorities are investigating some of the clients of British bank HSBC Holdings on suspicion of concealing accounts they had opened in India or Singapore, according to sources familiar with the matter, quoted by Bloomberg.
However, the letters sent by the Department of Justice do not mention the name of the bank, but they have reached people that have accounts opened with HSBC. "The prosecutors have determined that you have invested in a financial account in India, which has not been reported to the Internal Revenue Service, in any regular tax return, nor in any report to the Department of Treasury concerning accounts held abroad", says a letter, a copy of which was presented to Bloomberg News by the lawyer of one of the clients of HSBC.
Gareth Hewett, spokesperson for the Honk Kong Division of HSBC - refused to make any comment on this case, but said that the bank fully supports the decision of the authorities.
HSBC is the largest European bank in terms of market capitalization.