A Spanish court is investigating seven former executives of HSBC Holdings PLC’s private Swiss unit on suspicion of money laundering following an investigation of documents in the “Swissleaks” scandal on bank-supported tax evasion, legal sources said on Thursday.
In an order dated January, but not published until now, the Spanish National High Court named seven persons under suspicion of “persistent money laundering and criminal association,” who in 2006 and 2007 held senior positions at the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC.
They include former chairman Peter Widmer, as well as former chief executives Christopher Meares and Clive Bannister.
The investigation, which began in May last year, is based on the “Falciani list,” a cache of files listing unreported accounts of customers of the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC that was stolen in 2008 by former employee Herve Falciani.
SWISSLEAKS
The “Swissleaks” scandal has triggered the opening of proceedings in France, Spain, Belgium and Argentina.
According to the order, the Spanish court suspects possible “collaboration” by HSBC in the transfer and repatriation of funds deposited in the Swiss accounts with “the intention to conceal them from the Spanish treasury.”
To make these transfers, HSBC would have collaborated with Spain’s Banco Santander SA and the Spanish subsidiary of the French bank BNP Paribas SA.
The Spanish National High Court said it considered there were “indications of suspicion of money laundering.”
SANTANDER, BNP
On Wednesday, the court announced that 10 officials in Spain from Santander and the Spanish subsidiary of BNP Paribas had been indicted in the alleged money laundering case involving HSBC.
Judge Jose de la Mata ordered the 10 defendants, seven officials from Santander and three from the Spanish branch of BNP Paribas, to appear in court in the middle of next month.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last