Last checked at 
* HSBC is more than halfway through clean up, more to do
* Bosses reject calls from MPs to step down
* Chairman, CEO say take collective blame for failings (Adds HMRC announcement on meeting, Breakingviews link)
By Steve Slater and Huw Jones
LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - HSBC bosses rejectedcalls from British lawmakers for them to quit over the bank'sSwiss tax scandal, but said they were having to clean up after a"terrible list" of control and compliance failings.
HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint and Chief Executive StuartGulliver told a panel of UK lawmakers they shared collectiveresponsibility for failings at HSBC's Swiss bank that allowedclients to dodge taxes.
"It clearly was unacceptable, we very much regret this andit has damaged HSBC's reputation," Gulliver told the TreasuryCommittee with regard to practices in its Swiss bank in themid-2000s.
"I am responsible for clearing it up. I have madesubstantial changes," he said.
Europe's biggest bank has admitted failings in complianceand controls in its Swiss private bank after media reports saidit helped wealthy customers conceal millions of dollars ofassets in a period up to 2007.
It adds to a long list of banking scandals that have emergedsince the financial crisis, including several at HSBC. The bankwas fined $1.9 billion two years ago by U.S. authorities for laxcontrols that allowed criminals to launder money and was alsohit with a $611 million penalty by regulators in November foralleged manipulation of currency markets.
"It's a terrible list," Flint said when a UK member ofparliament read out the recent fines and investigations.
He said the bank was more than halfway through atransformation to make it simpler and create more centralcontrol. "I sincerely hope there are no more skeletons," Flintadded.
MORAL AUTHORITY
Flint said the allegations of wrongdoing had had adevastating impact on the bank's reputation that would take timeto rebuild.
This has also caused a political storm in Britain ahead ofan election in May. The opposition Labour Party has criticisedPrime Minister David Cameron for appointing former HSBC ChairmanStephen Green as a trade minister after he left the bank.
Green was responsible along with the rest of the managementteam for the control environment at the time, but Flint said thepeople most responsible for the Swiss bank failings were localmanagement.
Gulliver's own tax affairs have been thrust into the centreof the scandal after Britain's Guardian newspaper said he hadsheltered millions of pounds in HSBC's Swiss private bank via aPanamanian company.
"Do you have the moral authority to carry on this changeprocess at HSBC?" one of the lawmakers asked him during an oftenhostile grilling lasting almost two hours.
Gulliver denied any wrongdoing and said being domiciled inHong Kong did not represent aggressive tax avoidance. He said hehad paid all his UK taxes and opened his Swiss account via aPanama company so colleagues could not see his finances.
Gulliver has said the failings in Switzerland were in thepast and that the business there had since been transformed.
He was appointed CEO of HSBC in 2011 and has sold or closed77 businesses and axed more than 50,000 jobs at the bank as partof a restructuring of the group.
HSBC's Swiss bank is under investigation by a number ofcountries, including France and Belgium, and tax authorities inArgentina, Switzerland and India are also investigating theallegations of tax evasion.
Britain's financial watchdog is looking at standards at theSwiss bank, but no UK authority has announced any criminalprobe.
HMRC, Britain's tax authority, has faced criticism for notbeing tough enough on tax avoiders or the bank itself. One UKindividual has been prosecuted and HMRC has reclaimed 135million pounds ($209.34 million) from names on the HSBC list,including 15 million pounds in penalties.
Lin Homer, chief executive of HMRC, said the data providedon the HSBC Swiss bank clients was of poor quality andauthorities had pursued everybody they believes owed tax fromthe Swiss data received. "We broadly think we have got it all,"she told the panel of lawmakers.
HMRC said in a statement the Swiss data can be shared withother government agencies and it will meet next week with theSerious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, the CrownProsecution Service, City of London Police, the National CrimeAgency and EuroJust. ($1 = 0.6449 pounds) (Editing by Sinead Cruise and Elaine Hardcastle)
