£1.3bn from Guernsey in HSBC Swiss accounts
AROUND £1.3bn in Guernsey-linked money features in leaked documents about HSBC's controversial Swiss private bank which have sparked an investigation into alleged money laundering.
As details of the accounts in Switzerland emerge, it turned out that a single Guernsey-connected client had more than £600m. there – one of 238 clients connected with the island and 492 separate accounts.
Reassurances have come from Chief Minister Jon Le Tocq and the Guernsey Financial Services Commission over the island's anti-money laundering standards.
Deputy Le Tocq has reiterated that Guernsey has never had any banking secrecy legislation.
Guernsey's Financial Investigation Unit, which is a joint police and Border Agency operation, said that the Swiss authorities had not approached it for help in its investigations, but if they did it would assist in whatever way it could.
Deputy Le Tocq said the island met or exceeded all OECD, IMF, EU and UK standards on tax transparency, information exchange and anti-money laundering and had an extensive portfolio of agreements for tax information exchange.
'We have automatic information exchange under the EU Savings Directive and we are also participants in the OECD Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
'Unlike Switzerland, the source of this case and in whose jurisdiction most of the above does not apply, we do not have, and have never had, any banking secrecy legislation.'
