August 1, 2016
Israel’s tax authority, looking to crack down on unreported capital, said on Monday it has received a list from French authorities of more than 8,000 Israeli customers that held bank accounts at the Swiss arm of HSBC. HSBC early last year acknowledged “past compliance and control failures” that may have allowed some customers to evade taxes.
Since February 2015, Israel’s tax authority had been working to obtain the list of Israelis with accounts at HSBC Switzerland. Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal in Israel as long as it is reported to authorities and taxes are paid. The tax authority said that it will spend the next few months examining the list of Swiss HSBC accounts and compare it with the authority’s records.