'UK taxman probes HSBC Jersey accts'

HMRC, Britain's revenue service, is now combing through the list to establish whether some clients used the offshore bank accounts to avoid paying British taxes, the newspaper wrote.

The list identifies 4,388 British-based people holding 699 million pounds ($1.12 billion) in current accounts and includes celebrities, bankers, doctors, mining and oil executives and oil workers, the Telegraph wrote. The list also includes about 4,000 account holders with addresses outside Britain.

HSBC, Britain's biggest bank, declined to comment on the report, but a spokesman told the Telegraph: HSBC has a duty of confidentiality and cannot comment on clients even to confirm or deny they are clients. We have good relationships with our regulators and co-operate with investigations when required to do so.

HMRC would not comment on the details of the article, but said in an emailed statement: We can confirm we have received the data and we are studying it. We receive information from a very wide range of sources which we use to ensure the tax rules are being respected.

Clamping down on those who try to cheat the system through evading taxes and over- claiming benefits is a top priority for us, and we value the information we receive from the public and business community.

HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, is

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