Leaked HSBC files reportedly show the bank helped clients dodge taxes

Thousands of documents stolen in 2007 by a computer expert working for HSBC in Geneva show that Britain's biggest bank helped customers evade taxes, the BBC reports.

The documents contain information on more than 100,000 clients from around the world. While having offshore accounts is typically not illegal, deliberately hiding money to evade paying taxes is, and French authorities who looked at the data determined that 99.8 percent of its citizens on the list were likely evading paying taxes. In the UK, tax agency HM Revenue and Customs identified 1,100 people who did not pay their taxes, but says that since it was given the list in 2010 it has received £135 million ($200 million) in tax, interest, and penalties from those who hid assets in Switzerland.

The documents show that HSBC gave one family a foreign credit card so they could withdraw their undeclared cash overseas, the BBC reports, and also wrote to customers in 2005, sharing tips on how to go around a new tax. The bank, which is facing criminal charges in the United States, France, Belgium, and Argentina, says it has "fundamentally changed" how it does business. The documents were obtained by Le Monde and distributed to several media outlets, including the BBC.

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