Romania ranks 39th among the countries with the biggest dollar amounts leaked in the Swiss Leaks files, with over USD 1.3 billion. The largest sum associated with a client connected to Romania was USD 829 million.

The Swiss Leaks files show how global banking giant HSBC helped some of the world’s richest people dodge taxes and hide their money in secret bank accounts in Switzerland and other tax havens. Among the group’s clients were arms dealers, dictators, traffickers, as well as politicians and celebrities.

A total of 219 of the over 100,000 HSBC clients whose account details were leaked had ties to Romania. However, only 11 of them (5%) have Romanian passports or nationality, according to data published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

A team of journalists from 45 countries contributed to this large-scale investigation, which shakes the super-secret Swiss banking system.

The Swiss Leaks files originated from data provided by Hervé Falciani, a former HSBC employee-turned-whistleblower, to the French government in 2008. The French newspaper Le Monde obtained a version of the tax authority data, covering 100,000 clients (individuals and legal entities) from more than 200 countries. The total value of these customers’ accounts is over USD 100 billion.

Read more on Swiss Leaks here.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo: caption from icij.org)