HSBC jobs in Dublin at risk

UK-BASED BANK HSBC has told 10 staff at its offices in Dublin yesterday that they will be made redundant if alternative roles cannot be found within the bank.

A spokeswoman for the bank said the 10 jobs were at risk due to duplication of roles, but that the bank was continuing to recruit for its Irish businesses.

HSBC employs 582 staff in Ireland through its corporate bank and private bank, and its security services and insurance divisions.

The spokeswoman said 33 jobs would be created by the end of the year, including 18 in the bank’s Irish insurance unit and 12 in the corporate bank.

HSBC opened a new head office in Dublin at Grand Canal Square at the end of 2008.

In a separate development, HSBC’s Swiss private bank said a former employee stole details on 15,000 bank accounts, as banking secrecy comes under growing pressure from countries keen to crack down on tax evasion.

An IT worker took the account information three years ago, HSBC said. Data was stolen on 9,000 accounts closed before October 2006, said the bank, which has about 100,000 accounts.

“This represents a threat to the privacy of our clients,” Alexandre Zeller, chief executive of HSBC’s private bank, said. “We deeply regret this situation and unreservedly apologise to our clients.”

The bank plans to spend 100 million Swiss francs (€68 million)improving security, he said.

French authorities, who have obtained the data, have told their Swiss counterparts that they won’t use the information “inappropriately”, HSBC said.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said last month that her government may buy stolen data on Swiss bank accounts, two years after Germany paid €5 million for details stolen from LGT Group in Liechtenstein. (Additional reporting – Bloomberg)