The Stolen Bank Files - Île Rousseau
From this little island in the Rhône you can see both Geneva headquarters of HSBC's Swiss private bank, whose client files, copied by IT engineer Hervé Falciani in 2006 and 2007, became the 2015 Swiss Leaks scandal. The bank paid 40 million francs to close a Geneva money laundering probe, and Falciani was sentenced to five years in absentia.
About this place
Île Rousseau began in 1585 as a bastion guarding Geneva's lake entrance, became a boatyard and a quarantine store, and in 1834 was linked to the new Pont des Bergues and named after the city's most famous son, whose bronze statue by James Pradier was unveiled here in 1835. Since the 2012 renovation for Rousseau's tricentenary, the statue has faced the city, among freshly planted poplars and a long stone bench. From here, two buildings are in view: the old headquarters of HSBC's Swiss private bank on the Quai du Général-Guisan, where the bridge meets the left bank, and its current headquarters in the row on the Quai des Bergues, occupied from November 2013. IT engineer Hervé Falciani copied the bank's client data covering November 2006 to March 2007, tried to offer it to banks in Beirut under a false name, was detained in Geneva on 22 December 2008 and fled to France, where the files became the Lagarde list. In February 2015 the ICIJ and 154 journalists published them as Swiss Leaks: more than 100,000 clients and 20,000 offshore companies. Geneva prosecutors searched the bank on 18 February 2015, HSBC paid a record 40 million Swiss francs on 4 June to close the case, and on 27 November the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona sentenced Falciani in absentia to five years for aggravated economic espionage. Thief to some, whistleblower to others, he has never been handed over to Switzerland.
Key facts
- 100000 clients — More than 100,000 HSBC private bank clients and 20,000 offshore companies appeared in the Swiss Leaks data published by 154 journalists in February 2015.
- 40 million Swiss francs — HSBC paid this record sum on 4 June 2015 to close the Geneva money laundering probe opened with a raid on 18 February 2015.
- 5 years in prison — The sentence the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona gave Hervé Falciani in absentia on 27 November 2015; Spain refused to extradite him in 2013 and 2018.