MPs question CEO Stuart Gulliver and chairman Douglas Flint over the revelations that its Swiss operation helped wealthy clients dodge tax Introduction: Treasury committee questions HSBC bosses Watch the session here 3.52pm GMT Why did HSBC fire a compliance officer, Sue Shelley, after she tried to flag up the problems at the Swiss bank?HSBC denies that Shelley was fired for whistle-blowing, and will write to the committee with further details.Focus turns to Sue Shelley, #HSBC ex-compliance officer in Luxembourg, who was dismissed in 2013. Flint: "Her job was to escalate concerns." 3.50pm GMT Amazing - no one will take responsibility - all shared responsibility #hsbc #fail 3.49pm GMT Now it’s Alok Sharma MP’s turn to try to get Flint and Gulliver to take full responsibility for its Swiss banking arm.Flint says they take collective responsibility, which includes personal responsibility. But you can’t expect him to take personal responsibility for a large operation that he’s not personally running. 3.47pm GMT Stuart Gulliver is asked if he’s a fat cat.You’d have to define fat cat for me, he replies.MP @MikeKaneMP asks "would you describe yourselves as Fat Cats?" #HSBC CEO says: you'd have to define Fat Cat for me to answer that question 3.44pm GMT Douglas Flint is asked if he might hand back your own bonus because of the scandal.I’ve not had a bonus since 2010, he replies, and I’ve waived three during my career when I felt I should take personal responsibility. 3.42pm GMT Can bonuses be clawed back?Apparently not. Flint says that the remuneration has “long gone”, and clawback rules didn’t exist at the time. 3.40pm GMT Shouldn’t we see some “atonement” from HSBC over this scandal, asks David Ruffley MP?Douglas Flint says he “totally” agrees. 3.37pm GMT What action did you take as CFO, Mr Flint, when you learned that whistleblower Hervé Falciani had been arrested in 2008? What conversions did you have as head of risk?I was given board level responsibility for risk in 2010, Douglas Flint replies. 3.31pm GMT Flint then repeats that a lot of changes have been made to avoid a repeat of the Swiss scandal...."We are suffering from horrible reputational damage" says Douglas Flint HSBC chairman, but it's all in the past and no one responsible. 3.30pm GMT How could HSBC have been operating proper scrutiny if it allowed cocaine smugglers to launder money through its Swiss bank? (a reference to this, I think)Flint embarks on a long explanation about how leaked account details was stolen during a system upgrade (ironically, to improve controls), so the records aren’t complete or totally accurate (he says).Flint: "Some of the revelations are accurate but not within the timeline." Says one account closed in 1991. #HSBCHSBC's leaked data around its Swiss bank was leaked during a data upgrade that was meant to improve controls, Flint saysStewart Hosie MP on HSBC controls: "It's not really robust when a man convicted of smuggling a tonne of cocaine is taking out wads of cash? 3.25pm GMT Will Douglas Flint take responsibility for the acquisition of the Swiss bank subsidiary, asks Andy Love. You were the finance director at the time.Flint plays the collective responsibility card, saying that he certainly shares responsibility, as part of the team. 3.23pm GMT Now it’s Andy Love’s MP turn - he grills Douglas Flint about the aggressive tax avoidance schemes which HSBC has been involved with.Two, Eclipse 35 and Goldcrest, have cost UK taxpayers tens of millions of pounds. Would you do them again?Flint pressed on HSBC support for film schemes accused of tax avoidance "We wouldn't do it today." 3.19pm GMT Douglas Flint, chairman of HSBC: "I pay all my tax and I find it abhorrent that others don’t". Yes, really. 3.18pm GMT Do you understand the deep frustration that customers in this country feel in this country, asks John Thurso. Good citizens in this country who pay tax get hammered by HMRC, but large firms get around it.So, what are you going to do to ensure that the right amount of tax is paid by companies, in the right jurisdiction?I pay all my tax and find it abhorrent that others do not. 3.12pm GMT Some early reaction to the hearing (reminder, there’s a live feed here)#HSBC's Gulliver and Flint slippery as hell when asked by @tpearce003 about "hold mail" and related dodginess their bank condonedjust started watching the Treasury Committee with HSBC. Douglas Flint looks uncomfortable.Douglas Flint speechless when asked why HSBC clients would bring large amounts of cash to SwitzerlandQuoteOfTheDay. HSBC boss tells MPs re Swiss tax clients: "I can understand how people find these kind of arrangements unusual" 3.11pm GMT Onto the revelation in the Guardian that some clients turned up in Switzerland to take large amounts of cash. Wasn’t that a little bit suspicious?Flint struggles for a moment, before arguing that there are “legitimate” reasons for this. Today it’s a “red flag”, though.Douglas Flint: There are clients who like to have a large amount of cash for legitimate purposes. It's a red flag today. 3.09pm GMT And why did HSBC operate hold mail accounts?For people who didn’t their bank details to arrive where they live, Gulliver says. HSBC don’t offer them any more.*HSBC CEO: HOLD-MAIL ACCOUNTS WEREN'T SUSPICIOUS IN SWITZERLAND 3.07pm GMT Teresa Pearce MP asks Gulliver couldn’t trust HSBC staff not to check his own account fi he banked in Hong Kong.I’m a high-profile employee, he replies. Other clients would be completely secure, of course. 3.04pm GMT But why didn’t HSBC operate proper controls, Tyrie asks.Flint says that the system “worked very well until it didn’t work”, and it’s now being fixed.Flint compares cleaning up HSBC to painting the Forth Bridge. "you start at the beginning and you go again because circumstances change." 3.02pm GMT Tyrie takes a broader view now, running through the list of investigations or fines which HSBC faces.Interest rate derivative selling, Libor manipulation, Eurobor manipulation, misselling mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Forex rigging, Weakness in money laundering, credit default swaps, US investigation for rigging precious metals, Various class action lawsuits over the Bernie Madoff fraud..... (I think I missed one). 2.59pm GMT Andrew Tyrie wants to know who is responsible for HSBC buying these overseas operations where banking standards were too low. Who should carry the can?Chairman Douglas Flint argues that you can’t pin the blame for a major acquision on a single person. It’s a joint decision. 2.56pm GMT Gulliver says that he never discussed the Swiss case with Treasury officials at any of the 56 meeting he had with officials.It may have been raised at “two or three” HMRC meetings. 2.54pm GMT But your Swiss bank has bent over backwards to allow tax avoidance and evasion, says Rushanara Ali, so how can you be trusted?.These were Different Times, Gulliver replies. 2.53pm GMT How can the public be expected to trust HSBC, asks Rushanara Ali?Gulliver says HSBC is confident that we have made significant changes to its Swiss private bank. 2.50pm GMT Flint:I share the comments that stuart made about the shame we feel about what happened in switzerland and I take my share of responsibility 2.49pm GMT Douglas Flint say he echoes Gulliver’s apology. 2.49pm GMT Gulliver runs through the changes he’s made as CEO.We used to be run as 88 separate operations before I changed the set up. I have sold 77 businesses, and cut headcount.I hope the British public see that the action steps I gave taken leave HSBC in a better state... 2.47pm GMT Labour MP Rushanara Ali asks Gulliver about his comment this week that large corporations are being held to “higher standards than the military, the church or civil service.”He concedes that this comparison was unfortunate. 2.41pm GMT Jesse Norman asks Stuart Gulliver about his non-dom status.Gulliver insists that he has “I have absolutely followed the letter of the domicile law”, including paying that remittance charge.But he has paid the remittance charge, introduced in 2008, which he says costs him £30,000 a year.But the important point is that I have paid UK tax on my worldwide HSBC incomeI have paid the fair and appropriate amount of tax.Gulliver confirms no tax on offshore assets. I have the same tax advantage that any non dom has which is that my oversaes assets are taxed..2/on a remittance basis and I pay the £30,000 charge each year. 2.37pm GMT Onto chairman Douglas Flint, who is asked about reputational damage from these allegations. He insists that HSBC’s pay is among the most transparent in the industry. 2.35pm GMT Gulliver has begun by apologising for what "damage to trust and confidence to hsbc" which "hurt clients, customers and shareholders" 2.34pm GMT Important point -- Gulliver says he pays tax on the ‘remittance’ basis:Gulliver admits for first time he pays tax on the remittance basisThis means his offshore earnings are exempt from UK tax 2.34pm GMT 2.33pm GMT Gulliver concedes that his arrangements may look unusual and “puzzling”, but insists that he has paid all the tax he owed in the UK.I have been registered for UK tax since 2003. I have paid UK tax on my HSBC dividends, and capital gains on all shares I have sold, he says. 2.31pm GMT Why Panama?That was simply the nominee entity that our Swiss bank advised, Gulliver says. 2.31pm GMT Explaining his own tax affairs, Gulliver says that he comes from an ordinary background, a state school in Plymouth.But then he joined HSBC, and began working overseas - based in HSBC. 2.27pm GMT 2.27pm GMT Stuart Gulliver starts by putting on record an apology for the “unacceptable events at our Swiss bank” in the 2000s.He is making it to MPs, customers, shareholders and the public at large. 2.24pm GMT Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie says there are some quite remarkable revelations to discuss.Starting with Stuart Gulliver - why did he used a company based in Panama, as well as a Swiss bank account, to handle his money? 2.23pm GMT HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver and chairman Douglas Flint have just arrived in Committee Room 8, where the Treasury Committee are assembled for today’s session. 2.21pm GMT The UK Treasury Select Committee with the #HSBC Chairman is about to start. We'll be tweeting any key moments. #Swissleaks 2.10pm GMT MPs in the main chamber of parliament are debating bankers bonuses. My colleague Aisha Gani is covering it in our Politics Live blog: 2.02pm GMT The Treasury committee hearing with HSBC, and HMRC, will be broadcast live on the web, here. (right-click to open in a new page) 2.00pm GMT Greg Wise, the actor married to Oscar winner Emma Thompson, has announced that the couple will refuse to pay tax until those who evaded tax through HSBC’s Swiss arm are jailed.Wise told the Evening Standard that:“I want to stop paying tax, until everyone pays tax,” “I have actively loved paying tax, because I am a profound fucking socialist and I believe we are all in it together. But I am disgusted with HMRC. I am disgusted with HSBC. And I’m not paying a penny more until those evil bastards go to prison.” 1.53pm GMT The revelations about HSBC’s Swiss banking operations broke on the evening of Sunday, February 8th, and dominated the media for days. The Guardian’s full coverage of the story is online here: 1.49pm GMT HSBC CEO Gulliver &Chairman Flint to answer MPs' questions about their Swiss bank at 14.15GMT.First time they'll be on camera since scandal 1.43pm GMT I’m switching my attention to parliament now, where the two top executives at banking giant HSBC are appearing before the Treasury committee soon.MPs have turned up the heat on HSBC by summoning its boss, Stuart Gulliver, at the last minute to give evidence alongside the group’s chairman.Revelations that Gulliver, brought in as a reforming chief executive of Britain’s biggest bank, had a bank account in Switzerland that was routed through Panama prompted the Treasury select committee to call him in to give evidence. 1.14pm GMT Time to recap, before I move away from Greek matters for a few hours.“This is what I tell my counterparts: if you think it is in your interest to shoot down progressive governments like ours, just a few days after our election, then you should fear the worst” 12.39pm GMT Chart time! The Bank of England has unlocked a treasure trove of historic data, as it holds a research conference in London today.Economists have been truffling for tasty highlights:Gym time. We work around 32 hours per week. It was almost 60 back in the 1850s - not much time for the gym back then! pic.twitter.com/qcUbbQAy0qAs @tomashirstecon jokes 'there is no productivity puzzle', we've just returned to the 1857-1947 trend... pic.twitter.com/tgCtBjYeTXInflation adjusted UK share price index since 1700. Couple of historical highlights along the way. @DuncanWeldon pic.twitter.com/7DSY7UefyWThe UK's history of current accounts and currency crashes since 1816. Brace for Gold Standard advocates... pic.twitter.com/Lk91atozVo 12.30pm GMT Over in Dublin, a banking inquiry has heard that Ireland’s Central Bank took more risks with the Republic’s high street banks than its state counterparts in southern European countries like Spain before the financial crash.“It took the spirit of the times and really ran with it.”“The economy was going into a slump but it could have saved a big chunk of that money.” 12.16pm GMT Alexis Tsipras has told his MPs that Greece took a step forwards at this month’s bailout negotiations, Enikos reports.While things remain tough, his government will be judged by its ability to negotiate and govern, he added, at today’s meeting. Tsipras: We will also be judged by our ability to govern - http://t.co/gYGE70Mlmz pic.twitter.com/QR2kG9DYqK 12.13pm GMT Syriza MPs have been gathered in the Athens parliament for over two hours listening to prime minister Alexis Tsipras dissect the deal his government signed last week. 12.09pm GMT 12.07pm GMT With dissent within the ruling Syriza party on the rise as the magnitude of the government’s climb-down sinks in, the Euro MP Dimitris Papadimoulis has also waded in, says Helena Smith.Papadimoulis told SKAI TV this morning that the government is going to ride out the storm. “None of the government’s senior members are going to pull the rug from under [prime minister Alexis] Tsipras at a time when we have only just begun and the difficulties lie before us.”“And when we succeed, it will be a breath of air [with which] to confront the humanitarian crisis”. 12.01pm GMT Quartz have helpfully deconstructed the letter which Greece’s creditors sent to Athens yesterday:Here's what the Eurogroup really told the Greek government: http://t.co/YDNCJbd4fw 11.43am GMT Over in Athens Greece’s labour minister, Panos Skourletis has pledged that the next four months will be a period of “daily negotiation,” as debt repayment demands loom.“The next four months will be four months of daily negotiation.” 11.31am GMT World stock markets hit a record high this morning, the FT reports, as relief over the Greek bailout talks helped to push shares higher.A solid day’s trading in Asia pushed the FTSE All-World index up to a new high, after the UK FTSE 100, German DAX and US Dow Jones indices all posted record closing highs on Tuesday.Wrote this @FTLex note on AO World a year ago to the day. Since it's off 28% at pixel, holds up pretty well http://t.co/m8dmTuJdk2 10.59am GMT Investors have paid Germany for the chance to lend it money for five years, for the first time ever. Germany auctioned €3.3bn of five-year debt at an average yield, or interest rate, of -0.08% this morning, meaning traders paid more than the face value of the debt.Paying to lend to GE RT@MarcoBabic1: Germany AUCTIONS 5-YEAR NOTES AT NEGATIVE YIELD FOR FIRST TIME. YIELD IS -0.08% pic.twitter.com/ea8DW6TDaqThis world we live in, redux. *GERMANY AUCTIONS 5-YEAR NOTES AT NEGATIVE YIELD FOR FIRST TIME 10.41am GMT Europe will hand racists and nationalists a victory if it does not support the new Greek government, finance chief Yanis Varoufakis has warned.Interview du ministre grec des finances #YanisVaroufakis #yanis dans #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/Byo8q7egBcIn an interview published on Wednesday - the second edition since the satirical weekly was attacked by Islamist gunmen - the leftist academic says European government’s will suffer if governments like his are “asphyxiated.”“This is what I tell my counterparts: if you think it is in your interest to shoot down progressive governments like ours, just a few days after our election, then you should fear the worst,” he said.France: départ en douceur pour les ventes du nouveau «Charlie Hebdo» http://t.co/zmNgwm3B4L pic.twitter.com/Z1KzXd2Im8 10.11am GMT Greece’s finance minister has now weighed in on the privatisation issue, saying that sales that haven’t been completed might be changed.Yanis Varoufakis told the Real FM radio station that: “We will not change the privatisations that have already been done.”“With the privatisations that are ongoing, the Greek government can implement the law and change some terms, and also examine the legality.” 9.47am GMT Alexis Tsipras will soon face his first protest rally since becoming prime minister.Greece’s communist party has called a demonstration on Friday night, against the bailout agreement hammered out late last week.“The agreement and the list of reforms contain all the anti-popular policies of New Democracy and Pasok parties [the previous government]”.Greek Communist Party KKE planning 1st anti-government demonstration, will submit anti-bailout legislation http://t.co/JUyiSZUGOc #Greece 9.27am GMT Germany’s Rheinische Post newspaper is reporting today that Berlin politicians expect Greece will receive a third bailout this summer, of at least €20bn.It also predicts that up to 60 government MPs could rebel on Friday, when the Bundestag votes on Greece’s four-month bailout extension. Here’s the full story. 9.10am GMT Over in Germany, finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has done his bit for international goodwill by questioning whether Greece’s government can be trusted.Discussing the Greek bailout extension on SWR2 radio, Schäuble said:“It wasn’t easy an easy decision for us but neither was it easy for the Greek government because (they) had told the people something completely different in the campaign and afterwards,”“The question now is whether one can believe the Greek government’s assurances or not. There’s a lot of doubt in Germany, that has to be understood.”Mehr Zeit für Griechenlands Reformen. Wir haben Finanzminister Schäuble interviewt: http://t.co/Xk7YXVPTVX @BMF_Bund pic.twitter.com/L9vbJV9P8B 9.08am GMT Greece’s energy minister has declared that the privatisation of the country’s largest electricity provider, PPC, and power grid operator ADMIE will not proceed, despite the reforms pledged yesterday.Panagiotis Lafazanis told the Ethnos newspaper that:“The tender for ADMIE will not go ahead.The companies have not submitted binding bids so it will not be completed. That is also the case with PPC.” 8.48am GMT No fresh record highs in the stock markets this morning, yet anyway. The FTSE 100 is down 2 points, after scaling new heights yesterday, while the German and French indices are flat.Markets pretty quiet & drifting in early trade - a Greek hangover. Back in ancient times a Greek hangover cure was to eat deep-fried canary 8.40am GMT More photos from the George Papaconstantinou trial this morning:More: Ex-finance minister Papaconstantinou in court http://t.co/DsGm2E9Zk1 HT @ElenaBec #Greece pic.twitter.com/RMwCIX8wxw 8.32am GMT Greece’s former finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, has gone on trial this morning over charges that he removed the names of three relatives from a list of suspected tax evaders.#Greece former FinMin Papaconstantinou pleads not guilty to forging public record charges on the 1st day of Falciani/Lagarde list trial. 8.20am GMT A group of conservative government MPs have urged Angela Merkel to take a hard line with Athens over its bailout, in another sign of trouble ahead.According to the FAZ newspaper, two senior members of Merkel’s CDU party fear Greece is being treated too leniently.“A simple extension of the aid programme without effective terms would mean that we are knowingly throwing further good money after bad.” 8.13am GMT Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of Greek’s bailout, the world economy, the financial markets and business.The eurozone achieved a breakthrough yesterday, but the hard work is really just beginning.“Just as we were poised to exit the memorandum and take up a precautionary credit line with much more comfortable terms, we are stuck with the old memorandum for month and are preparing for a third memorandum from July,” Where will the more opposition to #Greece bailout extension: Bundestag or Greek parliament?While the agreement is welcome it doesn’t change the fact that Greece still has limited access to funds, and also doesn’t hide the fact that both the IMF and ECB expressed concerns about the level of detail, and indicated that they would insist that Greece would need to do more if it wanted the release of additional bailout monies. 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