Geneva prosecutors search HSBC premises
"A search is currently underway in the premises of the bank, led by Attorney General Olivier Jornot and the prosecutor Yves Bertossa," a statement by the Geneva's prosecutor said.
The search followed over allegations that the bank, Europe's largest, had helped many to stash away in their accounts millions of dollars earned from drug trafficking, arms dealing and evasion of taxes.
HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) is being investigated.
The statement said the investigation could later be extended to individuals suspected of resorting to money laundering.
India's finance minister Arun Jaitley earlier said that the government would investigate new names added to a list of Indians with accounts at HSBC in Geneva as part of an expansive inquiry into black money issue.
According to reports, about 600 Indians were believed to have accounts at HSBC. Those names were shared in 2011 with India by France after an HSBC employee leaked the data. But the list now doubled to 1,200 Indians with a collective holding of 25,000 crores.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), comprising retired judges, was constituted to probe the black money issue under the direction by the Supreme Court in 2009.
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