HSBC: data on 24, 000 Swiss account holders stolen

[lyger <lyger () attrition org>]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gYEyiC3vLcRdV3BLGW9DcqzFx16AD9ECG8GO0

Information on 24,000 HSBC customers with Swiss accounts has been stolen, 
the British bank said Thursday, potentially exposing large numbers of 
international clients to prosecution by tax authorities in their home 
countries.

A former IT employee of Swiss subsidiary HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA, 
identified by French authorities as Herve Falciani, obtained the 
information between late 2006 and early 2007, the bank said. The accounts, 
held by individuals worldwide, were all opened before October 2006 and 
some 9,000 have since been closed.

"We deeply regret this situation and unreservedly apologize to our clients 
for this threat to their privacy," said Alexandre Zeller, chief executive 
of the Swiss subsidiary.

Switzerland has some of the world's strictest laws on banking secrecy, and 
the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or FINMA, said Thursday 
it has opened an investigation into whether HSBC failed to meet legal 
requirements to prevent data theft.

[...]
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