LONDON — The British bank HSBC said on Monday that profit declined 15 percent in 2014, adding to the bank’s challenges as it continues to reel from revelations about efforts by its Swiss private banking arm to help wealthy clients evade taxes.
HSBC apologized after news reports, based on secret documents taken from the bank in 2007, showed that its employees had reassured clients that HSBC would not disclose details of their accounts to the tax authorities of their home countries and discussed options to avoid paying taxes on those assets.
On Monday, the bank, which is based in London but generates much of its income from Asia, once again offered an apology for what it described as “conduct and compliance failures” in its Swiss unit and said that it had overhauled its private banking business and reduced its client base in Switzerland by 70 percent since its peak.
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Revenue declined 5 percent in 2014 to $61.2 billion, down from $64.6 billion in the prior year.
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