HSBC

The CRA (Canadian tax department) has obtained a list of Canadians who have offshore bank accounts with HSBC in Switzerland from a former HSBC computer employee who has provided information to French and Italian tax authorities. While offshore bank accounts are legal, failure to report them to the Canada Revenue Agency is potentially tax evasion. Revenue Canada has announced that it is going through the list, starting with the largest accounts and auditing the Canadian taxpayers.

If you have unreported offshore income or offshore bank accounts you may still be able to avoid charges by doing a voluntary disclosure, provided CRA has not contacted you to commence an audit.