Still struggling with the legacy of past tax evasion scandals, HSBC warned that it could be open to fresh penalties of as much as $1.5 billion from claims that its Swiss private bank arm helped clients circumvent their taxes.
 
The British-based company has already made a $3.2 billion impairment.
 
Various tax administration, regulatory and law enforcement authorities around the world, including in the US, Belgium, Argentina, India and Spain are conducting investigations and reviews of HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) and other HSBC companies in connection with allegations of tax evasion or tax fraud, money ...