HSBC clients in US tax probe: Report

Some HSBC Holdings clients are being investigated by the US Justice Department on suspicion of failing to disclose accounts in India or Singapore,reports said on Monday,citing three people it did not identify.

Letters from the Justice Department sent to HSBC clients did not mention the bank by name,but were directed to people with accounts at the bank,the report added,citing unnamed lawyers.

Gareth Hewett,HSBC8217;s spokesman in Hong Kong,declined to comment.

Earlier this year,the US government charged several former wealthy clients of UBS AG after the Swiss bank last year admitted to actively helping US citizens evade taxes overseas. Two clients of HSBC were also charged by US prosecutors with concealing 45 million in unreported bank accounts.