In the stocks

摘要

Stuart gulliver, the boss of hsbc, grumbles that publicly owned businesses are now being held to a higher standard of behaviour than bishops. A more apt comparison might be medieval monks, given the self-flagellation that the London-based banking giant has felt obliged to perform in the wake of a tax-dodging scandal. It has run grovelling, full-page apologies in newspapers, admitting that the episode is a "source of shame", and sent top brass to sit in the stocks in front of the British parliament's tomato-wielding Treasury committee. The cause of this penance is the leaking to the media of a list of over 100,000 people who held accounts at hsbc's Swiss arm in 2005-07. The documents appeared to contain evidence that hsbc bankers connived in clients' tax evasion. The bank has also had to explain why Mr Gulliver parked his pay in a Swiss account owned by a Panamanian shell company. It says the structure was designed to ensure other employees could not see what he earned, not to dodge tax.