Mr. Niall Cody:

It is done through Revenue's solicitor's office. We regularly receive legal advice on criminal prosecutions and tax. It is part of our core business. Approximately 215 cases are going through a process of consideration for prosecution at present. We are active in this area. The summary of the legal advice is that theoretically it may be possible but practically it would be almost impossible. Prior to coming here I was thinking about what legislation would be used to prosecute. The legislation speaks about aiding and abetting tax evasion. I have a note on the relevant section somewhere. This would not come under aiding and abetting. It is very difficult to deal with the operation of a secret bank account in a country where bank secrecy is a norm and the legal standard aided a taxpayer filling out a false tax return.

The primary offence is the taxpayer's. The secondary is aiding and abetting. One has to have the bank with the bank's fingerprints in relation to the tax evasion, and then one has to get evidence to corroborate that.

I have been reading the Argentinian details. The members of the committee know this, as well as I do. HSBC was in front of the PAC in London on Monday. Apparently the Argentinian authorities were there. Reading the coverage of the Argentinian matter, they seem to be very concerned about the flow of money from HSBC Argentina to HSBC Switzerland. They are talking about repatriating the funds. It is a very different thing from tax evasion.