Another taxing time for a bank that can’t escape the headlines

You simply could not make it up, writes Kyran FitzGerald.

A global bank, run for three years by an ordained Church of England priest turned Tory trade minister is exposed as having facilitated tax dodging through its Swiss operation on a massive scale. Previously, it managed to rack up losses in excess of $50bn on subprime loans in the US before being hauled before the Senate over allegations that it laundered billions for Mexican drug barons.

The Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank Corporation came into being in 1865, its driving force being a Scotsman, Thomas Sutherland, who worked for the shipping firm, P&O, and who spotted a large requirement for banking services in a Far Eastern market that was being opened up to Western interests with some assistance from British gun boats.