HSBC, which this week revealed continued regulatory probes
against it in the US and that
it has set aside $800 million as a consequence, faces another major
investigation from UK
authorities after it allegedly opened offshore accounts in Jersey
for criminals, the Daily Telegraph
newspaper said today.

The tax authorities have obtained details of every UK client of HSBC in Jersey
after a whistleblower provided a detailed list of names, addresses and
account balances earlier this week, the newspaper said.

The publication said it understands that “among those
identified on the list are Daniel Bayes, a drug dealer who is now in Venezuela;
Michael Lee, who was convicted of possessing more than 300 weapons at his house
in Devon; three bankers facing major fraud allegations and a man once dubbed
London’s `number two computer crook’.”

“A series of other accounts containing six-figure deposits
are also registered to modest addresses in relatively poor parts of the country,”
according to the report.

HSBC, in a statement emailed to the media, said: "We are investigating the reports of an
alleged loss of certain client data in Jersey as a matter of urgency. 
We have not been notified of any investigation
in relation to this matter by HMRC or any other authority but, should we
receive notification, we will cooperate fully with the authorities. 
HSBC remains fully committed to adoption
of the highest global standards including the procedures for the acceptance
of clients."

The report, if confirmed as accurate, would be a major embarrassment
coming after the UK/Hong Kong-listed bank revealed in its quarterly results on
Monday that it had to make a provision of $800 million stemming from ongoing US
anti-money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act and Office of Foreign Assets Control
investigations.

Today’s newspaper report said HM Revenue and Customs is “now
understood to be trawling through a list of the names and addresses of more
than 4,000 people based in Britain who had bank accounts at HSBC in Jersey”.

The report quoted a spokesperson for HMRC as saying: “We can
confirm we have received the data and we are studying it. We receive
information from a very wide range of sources which we use to ensure the tax
rules are being respected.”

In its third-quarter results, HSBC said its global private
banking business logged a gain in pre-tax profit, at $252 million in the three
months to the end of September, amid cost-reduction measures.