* Falciani had stayed out of Switzerland during trial
* Falciani, French citizen, was former HSBC IT workers (Adds further details)
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Herve Falciani, an ex-employee of HSBC's Geneva private bank who leaked information on clientsand their tax situation, has been sentenced to five years inprison for aggravated industrial espionage, the bank said onFriday.
HSBC said it welcomed the ruling on Falciani, a 43-year oldFrench citizen who had been on trial in Switzerland.
HSBC's Swiss unit has been in the spotlight since 2008, whenFalciani, a former IT employee there, fled Geneva with filesthat were leaked to the media and were alleged to show evidenceof tax evasion by clients. French newspaper Le Monde has said itidentified more than 106,000 clients.
Falciani, who is based in France, did not attend his trialand stayed out of Switzerland while it was going on.
He may not serve any time in a Swiss prison since Francetypically does not extradite its own citizens, and there are nolegal proceedings against him in France.
Falciani's lawyer -- Marc Henzelin -- did not immediatelyrespond to a request for a comment.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Susan Thomas)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)
