LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The head of the UK's taxauthority told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday thatallegations revealed in the media about tax evasion by HSBC clients did not prove wrongdoing on the part of thebank.
Margaret Hodge, chair of the Public Account Committee, askedthe Chief Executive of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC)if the authority had considered: "Whether or not it wasappropriate for HMRC to take action against the Swiss arm of thebank for colluding with or actively promoting (tax) evasion."
CEO Lin Homer responded: "We've seen no evidence,necessarily, to support that".
"Things that get written in newspapers do not stand up tothe criminal test of evidence," she said. (Reporting by Tom Bergin. Editing by Alexander Smith and JaneMerriman)