HSBC’s Swiss private bank asked clients and independent investment managers last September to give up their right to the protection of banking secrecy to keep securities invested in 28 countries, Bloomberg reports.

In a letter seen by the news service, HSBC requested permission to give over the names of clients that want to keep their investments in countries - such as Brazil, China, India and Greece - where investor disclosure is required.

“The main objective of this document is to obtain the prior consent of the client to renounce Swiss banking secrecy before investing in regulated markets which demand the disclosure of his identity,” the agency quoted the letter as having said.

The Geneva-based private bank was also reported to have strongly recommended that independent money managers renounce banking secrecy for clients who want to invest in the US, Germany, the UK, Russia, Singapore and seven other markets where regulators can request investor identities.

HSBC Private Bank did not immediately comment on the matter when contacted by WealthBriefing.

Swiss banking secrecy, which is blamed by some for abetting tax evasion, has been the subject of sustained rhetorical and political attacks in recent months as cash-strapped governments try to stem the loss of tax revenues. In a bid to avoid being placed on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s blacklist of uncooperative jurisdictions, Switzerland has renegotiated tax information sharing tax information exchange agreements with countries including the US and France.

Switzerland’s banking secrecy – which has helped to make the country one of the most important destinations for offshore money – is a centuries-old tradition which is firmly enshrined in the Alpine state’s law; under Swiss law, legal sanctions can be brought to bear on bankers who have disclosed a client’s identity without permission.

While Swiss banking secrecy is certainly under threat, as evidenced by the ongoing court case between the US authorities and UBS over information on 52,000 of the Swiss bank’s clients, it is also being vigorously defended. The stakes for Switzerland are high, as its banks manage around $2 trillion of overseas wealth and financial services account for about 13 per cent of Swiss GDP.

Additionally, figures in the Swiss banking sector have accused the detractors of banking secrecy of hypocrisy, as the UK operates a number of offshore dependencies, such as the Channel Islands, while the US has a tax haven in the state of Delaware.