Authorities in France have concluded a probe of HSBC over claims concerning its private bank in Switzerland, bringing a possible trial a step closer, reports say.

HSBC’s private bank in Switzerland has moved closer to being put on trial in France after French authorities completed a probe into the bank over alleged tax-dodging, media reports said.

French magistrates put the bank under formal investigation in November and concluded their probe last week. Alleged tax dodging concerning French citizens involves around 3,000 taxpayers, reports have said. Le Monde, the French newspaper, has said there are 62 specific cases in progress.

Hong Kong/London-listed HSBC has seen its reputation hit by a fresh round of media coverage of how, after data was taken from it in Switzerland in 2006-07, information concerning alleged tax dodging was cited by groups such as the BBC Panorama TV programme and the Washington DC-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It is alleged that tens of thousands of account-holders used the Geneva-based private bank to dodge tax. The man who is accused of stealing HSBC’s data, Hervé Falciani, has been on trial in Switzerland. The Alpine state disputes his claim to be a “whistleblower”, alleging he sought to sell the data for financial gain. Divulging client data held in Switzerland is illegal under that country’s laws.

The saga raises the issue of whether governments that are determined to recover revenues from offshore centres any longer regard tax avoidance as distinct from evasion, and also highlights the use that some are prepared to make of data that has been stolen – a matter that in the past would have fallen foul of due process of law.

HSBC has stated that its business model of private banking in Switzerland has drastically changed since 2008 and the number of clients, and assets, held at this business unit has declined sharply. At the weekend, Stuart Gulliver, the overall group CEO, issued a full-page apology in several newspapers, such as the Sunday Times.

One media report said that on Monday this week, the tax fraud trial of the heiress of the Nina Ricci perfume fortune opened in Paris, one of the first people to be tried in France since a list of thousands of clients alleged to have evaded taxes through HSBC's Swiss private bank became public.

Arlette Ricci is suspected of hiding more than $22 million from French tax authorities via a bank account kept by HSBC's Swiss arm. She is on trial for tax fraud, money laundering and the crime of fraudulent bankruptcy to avoid tax, reports said. She denies the charges.

A separate French investigation into the bank's parent company is continuing.