The UK today distanced itself from the scandal involving HSBC, two days after Swiss police raided the global banking giant's offices in Geneva as part of its probe into "suspected money laundering" that involves 1,195 Indians.
UK Chancellor George Osborne broke weeks of silence over the issue by saying that it was for the prosecuting authorities to take action over allegations that the London- based bank's Swiss arm facilitated tax evasion.
"There are very serious allegations, there are allegations around tax evasion, which is illegal," Osborne said here.
"We have independent prosecuting authorities in this country and I don't think it would be right - and actually when you pause to think about it most people would agree - I don't think it right for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to be directing the prosecutions of individuals or individual companies," he said.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which is overseen by his finance ministry, has been criticised over its decision to prioritise collecting money from tax evaders at the troubled HSBC Swiss subsidiary rather than pursuing criminal cases.
Describing the lack of direct political involvement as "one of the bulwarks of freedom in this country for hundreds of years", Osborne said: "I did say when I came to office that I wanted to see more prosecutions.
"We resourced HMRC accordingly and as a result prosecutions are up fivefold in this parliament compared to the last Parliament."
The banking major has come under the scanner after a global expose earlier this month by a grouping of investigative journalists disclosed details of over one lakh account holders in HSBC Geneva branch.
This included 1,195 Indian names, including those of big corporates and political leaders.
The controversy revolves around HSBC's Swiss division helping clients in more than 200 countries dodge taxes on accounts containing nearly USD 204 billion.
The bank's problems mounted this week when Swiss authorities raided its offices on Wednesday as part of a money laundering probe.
The claims in the so-called "SwissLeaks" case emerged after a whistleblower took files from HSBC and passed them on to French authorities.
Since the scandal broke, Osborne has been under pressure to answer questions about HMRC's actions and the UK government's decision to hire Lord Green, the former global boss of HSBC, as a trade minister.
The government has so far refused to hold an inquiry into HMRC's decisions following revelations by the 'Guardian', the BBC and international media outlets about the extent of evasion by clients of the HSBC Swiss subsidiary and its role in enabling this to happen.
