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HSBC Private Bank SA was splashed by the disclosure of confidential files. FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

HSBC plays security. The Swiss subsidiary of the British bank agrees to pay nearly 300 million euros to stop criminal proceedings in Belgium. HSBC Private Bank SA was splashed by the disclosure of confidential files by Herve Falciani, a former computer scientist at the bank. This led to an indictment in 2014 for serious tax fraud and money laundering.

The Brussels public prosecutor's office believes that the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC has clearly wanted to " circumvent " European legislation. She allegedly " encouraged tax evasion by making available to some of her clients, offshore companies " in Panama or the Virgin Islands.

More than a thousand wealthy Belgian taxpayers, including Antwerp diamond dealers, could have benefited from it, and several billion dollars could have gone under the radar of the Flat Country Tax.

The deal for a fine of more than 294 million euros is a record in this type of case, according to Belgian media, but if it is approved by the courts next month, this will prevent HSBC a procedure " expensive and often complex .

In exchange, the bank has provided pledges. The parquet floor highlights the " redesign of its structures ". The establishment would have finished with its services related to offshore companies and would have implemented a new tax transparency policy.

This conclusion recalls another. HSBC Private Bank SA had agreed to pay 300 million euros in France in 2017 to escape a trial for laundering tax fraud.

Investigations were also opened in Spain, Austria and Argentina.