Using a Panamanian offshore structure to hide his earnings was totally above board, according to HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver, and was recommended by the banking giant’s private banking arm in Switzerland, who was defending his convoluted tax arrangements at a hearing before the Treasury Select Committee today
Committee chair Andrew Tyrie MP grilled Gulliver on his complex tax arrangements, accusing him of ‘muddying the water with these extraordinary tax arrangements’.
‘I have worked in several global locations but for majority of time based in Hong Kong and that is my home. That is where I will be living post this assignment in the UK – I am Hong Kong domiciled,’ said Gulliver, who stressed that he was advised to set up these tax arrangements by HSBC’s private Swiss bank.
‘My question was why you felt the need as a Hong Kong domiciled individual to arrange your affairs through Panama?’ stressed Tyrie.
‘There was no tax advantage to the Panamanian company – I did it purely to give me privacy in my company. It had no tax purpose at all,’ said Gulliver. ‘It was nothing beyond a desire for privacy, there was no tax purpose to the Panamanian entity at all.
‘It w
