HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L), opens new tab is preparing to pay around $300 million to settle a French criminal probe into its alleged role in the “Cum-Cum” tax scandal, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Cum-Cum trades involve foreign investors temporarily transferring shares in French companies to local tax-exempt entities, such as domestic banks, around dividend payment dates to reduce or avoid withholding tax.
HSBC, in October, said it had made a $300 million provision against the investigations. The Bloomberg report said that a proposed settlement with prosecutors from the Parquet National Financier (PNF) is expected to be reviewed by a Paris judge at a court hearing in the coming weeks.
HSBC declined to comment on the report, and the PNF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for details. In September, Credit Agricole’s (CAGR.PA), opens new tab investment banking arm agreed to pay about 88.2 million euros ($102.66 million) to settle the dividend tax case.
