HSBC has been embroiled in a criminal investigation into a £134 million suspected tax evasion scheme created by the bank, The Times can reveal.
Three former employees at HSBC’s London office have been interviewed under caution for their role in devising a tax scheme that sought to help wealthy backers save millions of pounds in tax.
HSBC earned fees of about £2 million for licensing the scheme, which involved the sale of film rights, to the finance company Zeus Partners in 2008. Ten defendants, including City bankers and financial advisers involved in selling the scheme through Zeus, had previously been charged with cheating the public revenue, an offence that can lead to lengthy custodial sentences.
The charges have been dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service