Johannesburg - Banking giant HSBC reportedly threatened the Sunday Times over its article on wealthy South Africans who held R23bn in secret Swiss bank accounts, demanding this data be destroyed, the newspaper reported.
In a three page letter sent to the Sunday Times, HSBC's lawyers Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said the list of South African clients was "stolen from HSBC".
They said it would be a "breach of confidentiality" to publish the names, especially as this would lump them with crooks and tax dodgers. They demanded that no details be disclosed to anyone, ever.