The report, which quotes sources Bloomberg says are familiar with the matter, is attracting considerable attention in financial circles as people speculate whether another banking centre may be about to be the target of US scrutiny in the way that Switzerland has over the four years since an informant blew the whistle on UBS’s role in helping thousands of American citizens to avoid paying tax.
The Bloomberg story is based on letters received by Americans from US authorities which do not mention HSBC by name, but which “are all directed to people with accounts at the bank,” according to lawyers who saw them, Bloomberg says.
In its report, Bloomberg quotes an attorney at Arnstein & Lehr in Chicago as saying the crackdown was “a global initiative by the IRS and Department of Justice”, and notes that it showed how the US was expanding its efforts beyond Switzerland and UBS.
London-based HSBC is Europe’s biggest lender by market value. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the UK’s tax authorities were hoping to obtain the details of thousands of HSBC’s Swiss account holders after a former bank employee fled to France with stolen data.
In its report, Bloomberg notes that the US Internal Revenue Service is planning to hire 800 people over the next 12 months and to increase its staff in eight overseas offices, including Hong Kong, while also opening new ones in Beijing, Sydney and Panama City.
