By JAMES BURTON FOR THE DAILY MAIL

HSBC risks losing its US banking licence if US authorities decide to investigate and find it has acted improperly over the Panama Papers tax leaks, experts warned.
It will pile pressure on British regulators to act robustly on any evidence of money-laundering in the documents, which show the bank and affiliates used law firm Mossack Fonseca to set up 2,300 shell companies for clients.

And it comes as French police raided the headquarters of Societe Generale bank over its links to Panama.

Prime Minister David Cameron has created a task force to examine the links between Panama and the UK financial system.

But Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative member of the Treasury Select Committee, said ultra-tough US regulators would step in if Britain failed to respond strongly.

That could lead to any fines being paid to American authorities and HSBC could even lose its right to operate in the country.

The bank is already on thin ice after being fined £1.2billion and savaged by the Senate over its links to ‘drug kingpins and rogue nations’ in a 2012 Mexican money-laundering scandal.

If criminal charges had been brought, HSBC could have lost its US licence – putting the future of the entire bank at risk.

Rees-Mogg said: ‘American regulators are incredibly tough. It’s very important that domestic regulators look into this.’

HSBC denies any wrongdoing and says the allegations are historical.

IMAGE: Threat: HSBC could lose its US banking licence if American authorities decide to investigate it over the Panama Papers tax leaks

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