Argentina Demands Billions From HSBC in Taxes

The head of Argentina's tax service demanded Monday that HSBC give back $3.5 billion in assets, claiming the Swiss branch of the London-based bank helped Argentinian tax-dodgers to move offshore, The Local reports.

In November, Argentina's tax agency, AFIP, charged HSBC with helping 4,040 Argentines avoid paying taxes by stashing money in secret Swiss accounts on their behalf.

"We would like to know firstly if HSBC Holdings PLC supported the behavior of the Argentine branch and secondly, we expect the repatriation of funds by

HSBC Holdings PLC that, to our knowledge, amount to $3.5 billion," AFIP head Ricardo Echegaray said, referring to allegations revealed in the so-called SwissLeaks scandal.

The SwissLeaks scandal broke earlier this year after documents stolen from HSBC in 2007 by a disgruntled bank employee and handed to the French authorities were published in the media.

HSBC's Swiss private banking arm allegedly helped clients in more than 200 countries evade taxes on accounts containing $119 billion.