Former ANZ chairman held HSBC Swiss bank account, leaked files reveal

The former ANZ Bank chairman Charles Goode held an account with HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm and asked to be identified only as “Mr Shaw” in his dealings with the bank, according to file notes in leaked bank documents.

Goode – who maintains close ties to the Liberal party and sits as a director on two of the party’s associated entities – is one of hundreds of Australians identified as offshore account holders in an investigation by the Guardian and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

HSBC files: how secret Swiss account data detailing misconduct came to light

 Watch

The leaked documents from HSBC’s Swiss arm reveal file notes drawn from correspondence between Goode and the bank’s officers, which includes a request to be identified only as Mr Shaw with the bank. His account with HSBC was opened in 1997 and held $318,632 in 2006.

The file note, from 23 November 2005, said: “Several trials to reach client, today finally we got him in his office in Melbourne.

“Acct holder Mr. Ch. B G would like to be called Mr. Shaw (acct heading). So the entire discussion we were speaking about Mr. Shaw …

“Mr G. ‘Will raise the point with Mr. Shaw’… and will do the necessary steps. I made clear that documentation is in a very poor stage … additionally we do not even have an identification (PP-copy) of the acct holder, i.e. we do not even know client’s birthdate. He is aware of it and will sort it out.”

The meeting notes describe Goode as “very satisfied” with the bank after the meeting. The account name is listed as “Shaw99”.

It is not illegal to hold funds in offshore bank accounts but in some circumstances it can be an offence not to disclose those assets to the Australian Tax Office.

Goode told the Guardian he had declared the account to the ATO and that all necessary Australian tax was paid. He disputed the suggestion in the notes that he had instigated the request to be called Mr Shaw, saying the bank had asked him to provide an alternative name for security purposes

The account was established about 30 years ago as a foreign currency account,” he said. “My purpose was to create a fund which could be used for investing outside Australia. As events turned out, I did not add to the account and I never proceeded with my plans to invest outside Australia.

“The account was dormant for about 25 years. No withdrawals were made from the account until I closed the account about five years ago. I never had any other Swiss bank account.

“When I opened the account the bank officer told me that, for security purposes, I needed a name, other than my own name, or a number, to identify the account and which I should use in communicating with the bank. I chose the name Shaw. I have no knowledge of the contents of the bank documents.”

Goode has longstanding links to the Liberal party and has sat as a director on dozens of public and private companies listed in Australia, including Singapore Airlines, UBS Services Australia and Woodside Energy. He spent 15 years as chairman of ANZ.

He is a director of Vapold Pty Ltd and Cormack Foundation Pty Ltd, Liberal party “associated entities” that have been involved in fundraising for the party over the past decade.

In 2001 Goode was described in federal parliament by former Labor senator Chris Schacht as “the bag carrier, the fundraiser, for the Liberal party”.

“He is on the board,” Schacht said. “He is chairman of the ANZ bank. He is part of the old boys’ network which collectively shares it around amongst themselves, and he is a senior member of the Liberal party.”

In a statement Goode said it was “entirely wrong” that he was a

prominent party fundraiser.

Other political donors and corporate executives revealed in the documents as holding Swiss HSBC accounts include John Roberts, the founding chairman of construction company Multiplex, who is listed as holding an account that contained $9,994,721 in August 2005.

Multiplex donated large sums to both major political parties for state and federal campaigns while Roberts was its chief executive. He died in 2006.

A spokesman for his estate told the Guardian: “The HSBC Swiss bank account to which you refer was funded from Mr Roberts’s Australian bank account from proceeds derived from normal business activities, and where tax obligations had been fully declared and paid.”

The amnesty offer for Australians who hold undisclosed assets or income overseas ended in December. The ATO said 1,750 Australians had declared more than $240m in income as part of the arrangements. It said it held a number of details about Swiss bank accounts held by Australians.