HSBC whistleblower Falciani sentenced to five years in prison

He's accused of industrial espionage, data theft and violating Switzerland's banking secrecy laws

Herve Falciani, an ex-employee of HSBC's Geneva private bank who leaked information on clients and their tax situation, has been sentenced to five years in prison for aggravated industrial espionage, the bank said on Friday.

HSBC said it welcomed the ruling on Falciani, who had been on trial in Switzerland.

HSBC's Swiss unit has been in the spotlight since 2008, when Falciani, a former IT employee there, fled Geneva with files that were leaked to the media and were alleged to show evidence of tax evasion by clients. French newspaper Le Monde has said it identified more than 106,000 clients.

Falciani, who is based in France, did not attend his trial.