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HSBC awarded a £214m loan [1] to a highly indebted company, IPGL Ltd, chaired by Tory Party Treasurer & Chief Fundraiser, Michael Spencer.
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IPGL and its struggling subsidiaries donated at least £5.3m [2] to the Conservative Party – large, ongoing donations enabled by HSBC.
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HSBC has won significant concessions from successive Conservative governments on tax, the bank levy, Mexican money laundering & terrorist financing investigations, as well as over the Swiss Leaks & Panama Papers.
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HSBC left a trail of cash, gifts, [3] loans, and donations, which bought the bank unrivalled open door political access, [4] yet deny claims of undue influence over the Conservatives.
Move Your Money and Debt Resistance UK have uncovered fresh evidence raising questions over the Conservatives 2010 and 2015 election funding, exposing millions of pounds of dirty money flowing into the Conservative Party via IPGL Ltd and HSBC.
A leaked internal email suggests HSBC has flouted anti money-laundering protocols which require screening of high risk political clients, ignoring its own commitment to ‘political neutrality.’
Loan documents obtained by Move Your Money and Debt Resistance UK [5] show HSBC lent over £214m [6] to a private company called IPGL Ltd, chaired by Tory Party Treasurer and Chief Fundraiser for the Conservatives 2010 general election, Michael Spencer.
IPGL and other subsidiaries controlled by Spencer donated more than £5m to the Conservatives, [7] donations that would not have been possible without HSBC’s loan, and which HSBC must have known about, as they bank IPGL.
Reacting to the news, John Mann, a Labour MP on the Treasury Select Committee, said:
“This is a very major regulatory issue and needs assessing for potential criminal behaviour. It’s political games being played in the hope of a weaker approach to bankers fraud.”
Since the £214m loan, HSBC has gained significant concessions from successive Conservative governments, including escaping investigation for Mexican money laundering and terrorist financing, [8] light treatment for the Panama Papers [9] and Swiss Leaks [10] scandals, as well as successfully lobbying for a roll back on the bank levy [11] in 2015. The bank denied claims of corruption and undue political influence when challenged by Move Your Money [12] at the bank’s AGM last week.
The news emerges with 30 Conservative MPs still facing charges for 2015 election spending fraud [13], and threatens to engulf the party in a fresh dirty money scandal with only 5 weeks until the country goes to the polls.
Releasing the evidence, campaigner for Debt Resistance UK, Joel Benjamin, said:
“Cash for Conservatives shows just how easy it is for big banks like HSBC to buy off the Tories, who are already being investigated for electoral fraud.”
“Michael Spencer’s donations were only made possible through an undeclared HSBC loan. Regulators must get a grip on City dirty money corrupting British politics.”
Alexander Runswick – Director Unlock Democracy said:
“Despite reporting substantial and consistent losses, IPGL made sizeable donations to the Conservative party over many years. For a company in financial crisis this was a high-risk strategy. When private companies make big donations to political parties there is usually an expectation that their influence will be extended, and so a question must be raised about what they were expecting to get in return. A question must also be raised about HSBC’s role, and whether they were aware the loan they made may have been used to fund political donations.”
Roger Mullins – Treasury Spokesperson for the SNP said:
“This is a very serious and deeply worrying case, suggesting that a major bank and a business customer have been involved in activities serious enough to warrant criminal investigation. I shall be writing to the Electoral Commission, there must be an investigation into this and before the General Election of 2017.”
Rebecca Mitchell of PR firm Maitland on behalf of IPGL said:
“As IPGL is a private company, it does not have any comment on this”
Ivana Zadro for IPGL said:
“IPGL has provided all relevant information in this regard to the Conservative Party.”
HSBC, Michael Spencer, and the Conservative Party declined to comment.
References:
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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12YZBQhg37p11A9bvG4dF6_3jWXeAeBNZmlt7IvBFFHo/edit?usp=sharing
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/chancellor-george-osborne-56-meetings-5207555
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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hv_PWvo4bBDvd3zXmlY1bgIkB0XeZsxGa4WzmiDfJ4U/edit?usp=sharing
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/17/hsbc-executive-resigns-senate
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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/mar/26/david-cameron-donor-dinners-cash-access
- https://www.channel4.com/news/exclusive-cps-considering-charges-against-over-30-people-including-tory-mps-over-expenses
