Finance

HSBC to pay about $300 million to settle French tax probe, Bloomberg News reports

Published by Global Banking and Finance Review

Posted on December 10, 2025

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Dec ‌10 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings 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 investment banking arm ​agreed to pay about 88.2 million euros ($102.66 million) to settle the dividend tax case. 

($1 = 0.8592 euros)

(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu ‌in Bengaluru, Lawrence White in London and Gabriel Stargardte in Paris; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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