"I would like to apologize, publicly, on my own behalf and on behalf of Douglas, by the unacceptable events that occurred in our Bank, in Switzerland, in the mid-2000. I want to apologize to everyone, to our customers, our shareholders, to the entire audience. Are unacceptable practices and we regret all this that just destroys HSBC's reputation. "
And the scandals list headlined by HSBC is long: among them market manipulation of exchange rates and interbank interest rates; the fraudulent sale of derivatives on interest rates and insurance products to individuals and SMEs in the United Kingdom. Earlier this year was released called Swissleaks: 100 thousand bank customers concealed more than 87 billion euros to the tax authorities of several European countries, including Portugal.