HSBC says CEO paid taxes after opening Swiss account

Seattle

HSBC Holdings plc, struggling to contain a political storm over the bank's facilitation of tax evasion through its Swiss unit, said chief executive officer Stuart Gulliver paid taxes after setting up his own Swiss account and keeping his legal residence in Hong Kong.

The bank, reacting to an article in The Guardian, said that Mr Gulliver opened the account in 1998 to hold bonus payments while working in Hong Kong. He paid Hong Kong taxes on the bonuses there, and since moving to the UK in 2003, he has paid UK taxes on his earnings globally, it said.