HSBC says Swiss data theft affects 24,000 accounts

Reuters 1143AM GMT eleven March 2010

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The bank had formerly pronounced "less than 10 clients" were influenced after Herve Falciani - a former HSBC computer dilettante - stole customer interpretation from the bank that he handed over to French taxation authorities.

"The theft, that was perpetrated by a former IT worker about 3 years ago, involves we estimate 15,000 existent clients who had accounts with the bank in Switzerland prior to Oct 2006," HSBC pronounced in a statement.

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On tip of that, up to 9,000 accounts that had been sealed in the past were affected. These accounts mostly were not big sufficient to be authorised for in isolation promissory note services, the bank said. It has 100,000 clients in Switzerland.

The debate comes at a supportive time for the sly zone - that serves abounding clients - with countries infrequently utilizing stolen customer interpretation to follow taxation evaders, a make use of one Swiss lawmaker has likened to bank robbery.

Swiss promissory note hulk UBS has seen billions of Swiss francs of customer income rush from the resources supervision operations among steady blows to the repute from a high-profile US taxation box and large writedowns that forced it to accept a supervision bailout in the crisis.

Germany"s Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, lifted the club in the quarrel opposite taxation semblance serve last month, observant Berlin was rebuilt to compensate for stolen interpretation on intensity taxation cheats at an unnamed Swiss bank.

HSBC pronounced in Dec that an ex-employee had stolen interpretation from the Swiss in isolation bank"s domicile in 2006 and 2007, but pronounced to the most appropriate of the believe fewer than 10 clients were involved.

HSBC "unreservedly apologised" to clients for the hazard to their remoteness on Thursday, but pronounced Swiss authorities pronounced they will not await the make use of of the stolen interpretation to answer requests from unfamiliar authorities about taxation issues.

Mr Falciani is additionally reported to have attempted to sell the interpretation to Germany for €2.5m (�2.3m), that taxation investigators there estimated could hillside in €100m for German coffers.

Alexandre Zeller, arch senior manager of HSBC"s in isolation bank in Switzerland, pronounced Mr Falciani eliminated interpretation onto a computer alternative than the one the bank released him and fled to beside France whilst underneath investigation.

Data burglary risk was autochthonous to the business, Mr Zeller said, adding that the bank had already combined insurance opposite this with USB keys and alternative technologies.

"We will regularly have new threats and we regularly have to deposit some-more to safeguard the IT security is all it can be," Mr Zeller said. "At the finish of the day, whatever you do, the human cause will remain. Private promissory note is a commercial operation of trust."

The stolen customer report is singular to accounts in Switzerland, incompatible ex-HSBC Guyerzeller accounts.