French authorities are investigating the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC Private Bank for allegedly aiding nearly 3,000 French citizens evade more than €4 billion in taxes, news agency Le Monde reported.

The Paris-based daily reported this information on "legal documents" in its possession which indicate the Swiss bank is "liable to be investigated for laundering of tax fraud".

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"HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland), according to the information before us, received the proceeds from acts of tax evasion and by making financial flows opaque, laundered the illicit funds, allowing thousands of customers with significant assets to escape the French tax administration," Le Monde stated.

French magistrates, Renaud Van Ruymbeke and Charlotte Bilger, are investigating the tax evasion issue that was brought to light after former HSBC employee Hervé Falciani leaked information in 2009 about 130,000 wealthy clients alleged to have evaded taxes.

Falciani fled to Spain with Swiss issuing an international warrant for his arrest, accusing him of violating banking confidentiality laws. Further, Spanish courts refused to extradite Falciani up on Switzerland’s pressure stating it does not have the same banking laws.

Le Monde has also asserted that French investigators received information that claimed certain HSBC client managers took steps in France to offer the creation of offshore companies and the opening of accounts to avoid European taxes.

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Meanwhile, Swiss daily Le Temps quoted a Swiss federal justice department spokesman as saying that since laundering tax fraud does not exist as a legal infraction in Switzerland with regard to direct taxes, any request for legal administrative aid would be rejected if it implies the use of "procedural constraint — for example lifting banking secrecy laws.