Belgian prosecutors settle with HSBC in tax-dodging case

Belgian prosecutors have reached a settlement worth nearly 300 million euro (£275 million) with a Swiss private banking branch of HSBC over a longstanding fraud and tax-dodging case.

The Brussels prosecutor’s office was able to reach a settlement partly because of a “change in the wealth management within HSBC”, and it noted the bank had stopped certain offshore services, improved transparency and appointed an anti-fraud director.

The prosecutor’s office had accused the company in 2014 of massive organised fiscal fraud, money laundering and forming a criminal organisation to the benefit of more than 1,000 wealthy clients that cost the Belgian authorities “hundreds of millions of euro”.