French prosecutor asks for trial for HSBC’s Swiss bank in tax-dodging case

PARIS, March 13 (Reuters) – A French prosecutor has requested that HSBC’s Swiss private bank be sent to trial to answer charges over a suspected tax-dodging scheme for wealthy customers, a judicial source said on Friday.

The procedural step brings the Swiss unit one step closer to facing trial in France after an investigation by local magistrates ended last month.
The bank now has one month to respond. The decision to go to trial then rests with magistrates.

The alleged fraud involves some 3,000 French taxpayers. (Reporting by Chine Labbe and Alexandria Sage; Editing by Ingrid Melander.)

Source: www.reuters.com