Days after settling a long-running French investigation over offshore accounts, HSBC Private Bank is again being dragged into high profile legal proceedings.
A former employee of the private banking business, Rajesh Parmar, who once headed a unit of the banks global Southeast Asian business, filed a lawsuit after being told he would not receive his bonus because he helped clients cheat on their taxes.
Parmar is suing HSBC Private Bank in the U.K. for more than 1.8 million pounds in unpaid bonuses and damages. In his legal suit he accuses the bank of «arbitrary, perverse and capricious conduct,» according to a report by news agency «Bloomberg».
Re-opening Old Wounds
In his court filing Parmar claims the bank told him he would receive the bonus and that he attended approximately 10 hours of interviews with bank representatives after which he was considered a «good leaver» in a settlement agreement when he left the bank in 2012.
The bank however is not taking the issue lying down and is counter suing Parmar saying he wasted management time. In its filing HSBC says Parmar helped a former client dodge taxes and also helped other U.S. based clients open undeclared accounts in Switzerland to evade U.S. taxes.
Millions to French Authorities
Last week Geneva-based HSBC Private Bank said it will pay 300 million euros to French authorities to put aside allegations that it lured wealthy French tax dodgers with offshore accounts to conceal their funds.
