LONDON: British finance minister George Osborne on Friday defended his government’s response to the scandal engulfing London-based HSBC bank, saying the matter should be left for tax officials to investigate.

Osborne said allegations that London-based HSBC’s Swiss division helped clients in more than 200 countries dodge taxes on accounts containing 180 billion euros ($204 billion) were “very serious,” but that he should not be “directing the prosecutions.”

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