HSBC and tax officials grilled over Swiss tax scandal - as it happened
Stuart Gulliver has apologised following the revelations that its Swiss operation helped wealthy clients dodge tax. MPs have also questioned HM Revenue and Customs.
- Summary: HSBC apologises
- Gulliver's tax: what we learned
- Treasury committee questions HSBC bosses <- full coverage starts here
- And then HMRC's top brass
- Latest: French finally let UK authorities share leaked data
7.57pm GMT
And that's all for tonight:
Thanks for reading, and commenting, as ever. Goodnight. GW
7.48pm GMT
Our politics editor Patrick Wintour sums up HSBC's appearance before the Treasury committee:
HSBC is suffering "horrible reputational damage" as a result of the exposure of the systematic aiding of tax avoidance in its Swiss subsidiary, the bank's chairman has conceded before MPs.
Douglas Flint told the Treasury select committee on Wednesday that he blamed the failings at the Swiss unit on its management, and said secrecy surrounding banking in the country made it difficult for him to have a direct line of sight of what has happening at the bank.
7.34pm GMT
7.27pm GMT
Political pressure from the Treasury committee, and beyond, could force HMRC into prosecuting more wealthy people suspected of breaking tax law.
That's according to Fiona Fernie, partner at Pinsent Masons, who says:
"It's difficult to imagine that HMRC can simply shrug off the immense political pressure that they are coming under at the moment to put more high-profile, high net worth cases forward for prosecution."
"The result of this is that we see a lot more complex, and costly tax cases coming forward for prosecution."
"There is a legitimate debate to be had over whether this is the best use of HMRC's scarce resources. HMRC and the CPS have a good track record of securing convictions for fairly run-of-the mill tax evasion cases, but for complicated cases, even high profile ones like the Harry Rednapp trial, the results seem to be more mixed. HMRC faces Hobson's choice - take a pragmatic approach and focus on successfully litigating the lower value cases, or take a moral stance and target higher value cases even where the odds of securing a return for the exchequer are longer."
"If the defendant makes a sympathetic witness and their financial arrangements are reasonably complex, then prosecutors will have a tough time convincing the jury that deliberate evasion - which necessarily involves proving dishonesty on the part of the defendant - took place."
7.15pm GMT
Campaigners congregated outside parliament today to call for a fair and effective tax system, as MPs quizzed HSBC's top bosses.
7.11pm GMT
So, what did we learn from that two-hour grilling of Britain's top tax chiefs?
The only big news is that the UK, at long last, has the right to share the data on Swiss bank accounts with other law enforcement agencies. A case of 'better late than never', after five years.
7.02pm GMT
6.36pm GMT
Last question goes to John Mann -- What would you do if you discovered any parliamentarians were dodging tax?
Lin Homer replies that she'd have to check "whether I had an obligation, or an ability, to refer" them to the parliamentary authorities.
6.34pm GMT
John Mann has crunched the numbers, and suggests that the Brits who've been using Swiss bank accounts to evade tax have actually made a loss.
Either that, or HMRC have failed to get the right amount of tax back.
6.24pm GMT
Can we see the letters from you and the French during the five years while they wouldn't let you share the Swiss data with other law enforcement agencies and regulators, asks John Mann?
Lin Homer says she'll consider it, and might need to check with the French....
HMRC says meeting next with Serious Fraud Office, the FCA, CPS, Nat' Crime Agency and EuroJust to discuss sharing of HSBC Suisse data.
6.13pm GMT
John Mann MP why Dave Hartnett, HMRC's former head of tax, was allowed to work for HSBC shortly after stepping down from the Revenue?
Lin Homer denies that Hartnett has any inside information on HSBC's Swiss bank, or HMRC's systems.
6.05pm GMT
This is what MPs mean when they talk about HMRC giving the richest an easy ride:
Lin Homer refuses to accept #HMRC tough on "little guy" whilst soft on prosecuting #HSBC, Goldman Sachs, #Vodafone > pic.twitter.com/cSKBwy2YK7
5.53pm GMT
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalism is tweeting the key points from this hearing:
HMRC making it harder and harder for people to say "I didn't know what I was doing," Homer tells Treasury committee pic.twitter.com/slcYE3VAFb
Homer refuses to answer how many cases investigated by HMRC relate to non-domicile people. Says it's not practical, and could breach privacy
5.51pm GMT
Rushanara Ali MP is taking HMRC to task about public concerns that the taxman gives preferential treatment to the rich and big businesses.
Lin Homer replies that she's concerned that this is a perception, but it's totally not true.
Great @rushanaraali question to the HMRC's Lin Homer about richer people being let off tax dodging, everyone else chased down for it.
5.41pm GMT
Jesse Norman and Lin Homer then clash, after the HMRC boss declines to say how many of the thousands of UK names on the Swiss tax accounts list are non-doms.
It's not relevant to whether they have paid the right amount of tax, Homer argues, and it might also breach laws on confidentiality.
5.37pm GMT
Jesse Norman then turns to HSBC's boss, Stuart Gulliver, who appears to be "operating at the outer limits of aggressive tax avoidance".
He's been able to enjoy the benefits of living in the this country, his kids go to [private] school here, but he's still...non-dommed in Hong Kong for potentially 40 years, Norman says.
5.31pm GMT
Jesse Norman MP returns to the precise status of the Swiss banking data obtained by Herve Falciani. Why is the HMRC copying HSBC and calling it "stolen"?
"It definitely was stolen", HMRC chief executive Lin Homer replies...... "but we will use data from whatever source".
5.22pm GMT
Here's a video clip of Stuart Gulliver apologising to MPs today, at the start of the hearing:
5.18pm GMT
But isn't the HMRC disappointed by this lack of prosecutions against people who may have used Swiss bank accounts to dodge UK tax?
Lin Homer replies that, as a lawyer, she is happy that there is a high bar to getting a successful prosecution.
@BBCBreaking Very poor performance from Lin Hamer - head of #HMRC in committee hearing. How did she get the job? #Strong person needed here
5.18pm GMT
Homer says that much of the evidence leaked from Switzerland is too weak to support successful prosecutions.
Q: Is this because of weakness in the law or weakness in the data? Homer: "It's because of weakness in the evidence." #SwissLeaks
5.14pm GMT
Onto prosecutions. Or the lack of prosecutions.
Andy Love MP presses Lin Homer on why more people with Swiss bank accounts haven't appeared in the dock.
5.11pm GMT
HMRC still investigating about 100 cases of possible tax evasion from leaked Swiss bank acct data says HMRC boss #HSBC #tax
5.08pm GMT
MPs are pushing for details for what HMRC did with the Swiss tax account data it was handed.
Lin Homer explains that 120m of unpaid tax and interest was recovered, plus 15m in penalties.
5.03pm GMT
HMRC say that they made 1000 requests for data on UK taxpayers from the Swiss authorities in the 2014 calendar year, the maximum possible under Britain's deal with Switzerland (the deal allows 500 per financial year)
5.01pm GMT
We're getting some long answers from HMRC, but not many knock-out blows yet.
Finding Treasury Committee's questioning of HMRC bosses a bit meandering. #tax #HSBC
4.59pm GMT
Lin Homer, HMRC CEO, is explaining that the Swiss data has been tricky to use:
Homer: "It's very rough data, it's very incomplete, we actually need to do some data-matching with [other agencies]" - now HMRC can do that
Homer emphasizes 2/3 accounts were deemed tax compliant, the rest have been investigated. But prosecution has been difficult #SwissLeaks
4.56pm GMT
HMRC has confirmed, with a tweet, that it now has permission to share the Swiss banking data leaked by Herve Falciani with other law enforcement bodies (as covered earlier)
HMRC confirms HSBC Suisse bank data can now be shared with other law enforcement agencies and regulators: http://t.co/am7eXcKhuo #TSC
4.54pm GMT
The HMRC's Jennie Granger denies that the UK's deal with Switzerland would prevent it taking data from a whistleblower, but that people shouldn't be encouraged to steal data wherever they are.
(a reference to the whistleblower-or-thief argument between John Mann MP and HSBC chairman Douglas Flint earlier)
4.52pm GMT
Would a simpler tax code lower the amount of tax avoidance and tax evasion, Steve Baker asks?
HMRC's CEO, Lin Homer, replies that for "hard-edged" tax evasion, the complexity of the tax system isn't a major factor.
4.49pm GMT
Back in Parliament, Steve Baker MP asks HMRC officials about the "nonsense" that parliament is still incentivising people to lower their tax bills through film sponsorship schemes.
Edward Troup, tax assurance commissioner at HMRC, says there was a "huge amount of tax avoidance through film tax relief" in the last decade.
4.43pm GMT
My colleague Juliette Garside, one of the team behind the HSBC investigation, explains what we learned about Stuart Gulliver's tax affairs today.
"The anomaly is you could have worked for a UK bank for 40 years, you could have lived in this country for 20 years and you could still be non domicile for tax purposes."
"The amount of tax I have paid is the fair and appropriate amount of tax. The absolute lions share of my earnings have been taxed at UK tax rate."
4.36pm GMT
The committee are now hearing from top officials at HMRC.
Lin Homer, HMRC's chief executive, says there is "good news" to report.
1st multi-agency meeting of UK investigators over #HSBC to happen next week after French formal waiver on Falciani data, HMRC head says.
On 23rd February, French tax authorities confirmed to HMRC it can share data with other UK law enforcement agencies.
4.26pm GMT
So, a very quick summary:
"I would like to put on the record an apology from both myself and Douglas for the unacceptable events that took place at our private bank in Switzerland in the mid-2000s. It is an apology we would like to make to you, our customers, our shareholders and the public at large.
"It clearly was unacceptable. We very much regret this, and it has damaged HSBC's reputation."
"It was purely about privacy from colleagues in Hong Kong and Switzerland. We had a computer system back in the day that allowed everybody to inquire into staff accounts ... I was amongst the highest paid people and I wished to preserve my privacy from colleagues. Nothing more than that."
HSBC boss and nondom Stuart Gulliver: "I don't think that the nondom laws would represent aggressive tax avoidance"
HSBC spends 31ml on adverstising in the UK - discussing pauses on advertising at the Telegraph: No one would purchase products at that time
Asked if he is a fat cat HSBC CEO Gulliver tells HMRC cttee: "You would have to define fat cats for me to be able to answer". Good riposte!
Yes! RT @ED_Forensic John Mann MP "You are calling whistleblowing, which has exposed criminality, as being data theft" #Whistleblowing #HSBC
4.07pm GMT
And that's the end of the session.
Andrew Tyrie sums up that fixing HSBC appears to be a "work in progress".
4.07pm GMT
Steve Baker MP asks about the 250m loan which HSBC gave to the owners of the Telegraph in 2012, as the Guardian reported last week.
Gulliver replies that, while he's restrained about releasing customer details, "we do not lend any money to the Telegraph at all".
4.04pm GMT
Gulliver denies ever trying to use commercial threats to influence the media - a free press is that very body that makes our ads valuable, he says
4.04pm GMT
What about the revelations that you threatened to pull advertising to avoid negative publicity?
Gulliver says there was one occasion, after the Telegraph wrote about HSBC's Jersey bank, that it "postponed" advertising.
4.02pm GMT
Steve Baker MP moves onto the issue of the media, and accusations that HSBC used its muscle to influence the Daily Telegraph.
How much money does HSBC spend with the Telegraph?
3.58pm GMT
Mann asks why Flint hasn't fired Gulliver.
Because he's doing a very good job.
Flint right - #HSBC is not a special case, just got caught out. Any other bank with a Swiss Private Bank will have done just the same.
3.55pm GMT
John Mann MP asks Flint how he dares to use the term "theft" to describe the leaked details of its Swiss bank accounts [see earlier post].
Because the data was stolen, Flint replies.
3.52pm GMT
Why did HSBC fire a compliance officer, Sue Shelley, after she tried to flag up the problems at the Swiss bank?
HSBC denies that Shelley was fired for whistle-blowing, and will write to the committee with further details.
Focus turns to Sue Shelley, #HSBC ex-compliance officer in Luxembourg, who was dismissed in 2013. Flint: "Her job was to escalate concerns."
3.50pm GMT
Amazing - no one will take responsibility - all shared responsibility #hsbc #fail
3.49pm GMT
Now it's Alok Sharma MP's turn to try to get Flint and Gulliver to take full responsibility for its Swiss banking arm.
Flint says they take collective responsibility, which includes personal responsibility. But you can't expect him to take personal responsibility for a large operation that he's not personally running.
3.47pm GMT
Stuart Gulliver is asked if he's a fat cat.
You'd have to define fat cat for me before I can give a 'meaningful response', he replies.
MP @MikeKaneMP asks "would you describe yourselves as Fat Cats?" #HSBC CEO says: you'd have to define Fat Cat for me to answer that question
3.44pm GMT
Douglas Flint is asked if he might hand back your own bonus because of the scandal.
I've not had a bonus since 2010, he replies, and I've waived three during my career when I felt I should take personal responsibility.
3.42pm GMT
Can bonuses be clawed back?
Apparently not. Flint says that the remuneration has "long gone", and clawback rules didn't exist at the time.
3.40pm GMT
Shouldn't we see some "atonement" from HSBC over this scandal, asks David Ruffley MP?
Douglas Flint says he "totally" agrees.
3.37pm GMT
What action did you take as CFO, Mr Flint, when you learned that whistleblower Hervi(C) Falciani had been arrested in 2008? What conversions did you have as head of risk?
I was given board level responsibility for risk in 2010, Douglas Flint replies.
3.31pm GMT
Flint then repeats that a lot of changes have been made to avoid a repeat of the Swiss scandal....
"We are suffering from horrible reputational damage" says Douglas Flint HSBC chairman, but it's all in the past and no one responsible.
3.30pm GMT
How could HSBC have been operating proper scrutiny if it allowed cocaine smugglers to launder money through its Swiss bank? (a reference to this, I think)
Flint embarks on a long explanation about how leaked account details was stolen during a system upgrade (ironically, to improve controls), so the records aren't complete or totally accurate (he says).
Flint: "Some of the revelations are accurate but not within the timeline." Says one account closed in 1991. #HSBC
HSBC's leaked data around its Swiss bank was leaked during a data upgrade that was meant to improve controls, Flint says
Stewart Hosie MP on HSBC controls: "It's not really robust when a man convicted of smuggling a tonne of cocaine is taking out wads of cash?
3.25pm GMT
Will Douglas Flint take responsibility for the acquisition of the Swiss bank subsidiary, asks Andy Love. You were the finance director at the time.
Flint plays the collective responsibility card, saying that he certainly shares responsibility, as part of the team.
3.23pm GMT
Now it's Andy Love's MP turn - he grills Douglas Flint about the aggressive tax avoidance schemes which HSBC has been involved with.
Two, Eclipse 35 and Goldcrest, have cost UK taxpayers tens of millions of pounds. Would you do them again?
Flint pressed on HSBC support for film schemes accused of tax avoidance "We wouldn't do it today."
3.19pm GMT
Douglas Flint, chairman of HSBC: "I pay all my tax and I find it abhorrent that others don't". Yes, really.
3.18pm GMT
Do you understand the deep frustration that customers in this country feel in this country, asks John Thurso. Good citizens in this country who pay tax get hammered by HMRC, but large firms get around it.
So, what are you going to do to ensure that the right amount of tax is paid by companies, in the right jurisdiction?
I pay all my tax and find it abhorrent that others do not.
3.12pm GMT
Some early reaction to the hearing (reminder, there's a live feed here)
#HSBC's Gulliver and Flint slippery as hell when asked by @tpearce003 about "hold mail" and related dodginess their bank condoned
just started watching the Treasury Committee with HSBC. Douglas Flint looks uncomfortable.
Douglas Flint speechless when asked why HSBC clients would bring large amounts of cash to Switzerland
QuoteOfTheDay. HSBC boss tells MPs re Swiss tax clients: "I can understand how people find these kind of arrangements unusual"
3.11pm GMT
Onto the revelation in the Guardian that some clients turned up in Switzerland to take large amounts of cash. Wasn't that a little bit suspicious?
Flint struggles for a moment, before arguing that there are "legitimate" reasons for this. Today it's a "red flag", though.
Douglas Flint: There are clients who like to have a large amount of cash for legitimate purposes. It's a red flag today.
3.09pm GMT
And why did HSBC operate hold mail accounts?
For people who didn't their bank details to arrive where they live, Gulliver says. HSBC don't offer them any more.
*HSBC CEO: HOLD-MAIL ACCOUNTS WEREN'T SUSPICIOUS IN SWITZERLAND
3.07pm GMT
Teresa Pearce MP asks Gulliver couldn't trust HSBC staff not to check his own account fi he banked in Hong Kong.
I'm a high-profile employee, he replies. Other clients would be completely secure, of course.
3.04pm GMT
But why didn't HSBC operate proper controls, Tyrie asks.
Flint says that the system "worked very well until it didn't work", and it's now being fixed.
Flint compares cleaning up HSBC to painting the Forth Bridge. "you start at the beginning and you go again because circumstances change."
3.02pm GMT
Tyrie takes a broader view now, running through the list of investigations or fines which HSBC faces.
Interest rate derivative mis-selling, Libor manipulation, Eurobor manipulation, misselling mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Forex rigging, Weakness in money laundering controls, credit default swaps, US investigation for rigging precious metals, Various class action lawsuits over the Bernie Madoff fraud..... (I think I missed one).
2.59pm GMT
Andrew Tyrie wants to know who is responsible for HSBC buying these overseas operations where banking standards were too low. Who should carry the can?
Chairman Douglas Flint argues that you can't pin the blame for a major acquision on a single person. It's a joint decision.
2.56pm GMT
Gulliver says that he never discussed the Swiss case with Treasury officials at any of the 56 meeting he had with officials.
It may have been raised at "two or three" HMRC meetings.
2.54pm GMT
But your Swiss bank has bent over backwards to allow tax avoidance and evasion, says Rushanara Ali, so how can you be trusted?.
These were Different Times, Gulliver replies.
2.53pm GMT
How can the public be expected to trust HSBC, asks Rushanara Ali?
Gulliver says HSBC is confident that we have made significant changes to its Swiss private bank.
2.50pm GMT
Flint:I share the comments that stuart made about the shame we feel about what happened in switzerland and I take my share of responsibility
2.49pm GMT
Douglas Flint say he echoes Gulliver's apology.
2.49pm GMT
Gulliver runs through the changes he's made as CEO.
We used to be run as 88 separate operations before I changed the set up. I have sold 77 businesses, and cut headcount.
I hope the British public see that the action steps I gave taken leave HSBC in a better state...
2.47pm GMT
Labour MP Rushanara Ali asks Gulliver about his comment this week that large corporations are being held to "higher standards than the military, the church or civil service."
He concedes that this comparison was unfortunate.
2.41pm GMT
Jesse Norman asks Stuart Gulliver about his non-dom status.
Gulliver insists that he has "I have absolutely followed the letter of the domicile law", including paying that remittance charge.
But he has paid the remittance charge, introduced in 2008, which he says costs him 30,000 a year.
But the important point is that I have paid UK tax on my worldwide HSBC income
I have paid the fair and appropriate amount of tax.
Gulliver confirms no tax on offshore assets. I have the same tax advantage that any non dom has which is that my oversaes assets are taxed..
2/on a remittance basis and I pay the 30,000 charge each year.
2.37pm GMT
Onto chairman Douglas Flint, who is asked about reputational damage from these allegations.
He insists that HSBC's pay is among the most transparent in the industry.
2.35pm GMT
Gulliver has begun by apologising for what "damage to trust and confidence to hsbc" which "hurt clients, customers and shareholders"
2.34pm GMT
Important point -- Gulliver says he pays tax on the 'remittance' basis:
Gulliver admits for first time he pays tax on the remittance basis
This means his offshore earnings are exempt from UK tax
2.34pm GMT
2.33pm GMT
Gulliver concedes that his arrangements may look unusual and "puzzling", but insists that he has paid all the tax he owed in the UK.
I have been registered for UK tax since 2003. I have paid UK tax on my HSBC dividends, and capital gains on all shares I have sold, he says.
2.31pm GMT
Why Panama?
That was simply the nominee entity that our Swiss bank advised, Gulliver says.
2.31pm GMT
Explaining his own tax affairs, Gulliver says that he comes from an ordinary background, a state school in Plymouth.
But then he joined HSBC, and began working overseas - based in HSBC.
2.27pm GMT
2.27pm GMT
Stuart Gulliver starts by putting on record an apology for the "unacceptable events at our Swiss bank" in the 2000s.
He is making it to MPs, customers, shareholders and the public at large.
2.24pm GMT
Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie says there are some quite remarkable revelations to discuss.
Starting with Stuart Gulliver - why did he used a company based in Panama, as well as a Swiss bank account, to handle his money?
2.23pm GMT
HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver and chairman Douglas Flint have just arrived in Committee Room 8, where the Treasury Committee are assembled for today's session.
2.21pm GMT
The UK Treasury Select Committee with the #HSBC Chairman is about to start. We'll be tweeting any key moments. #Swissleaks
2.10pm GMT
MPs in the main chamber of parliament are debating bankers bonuses. My colleague Aisha Gani is covering it in our Politics Live blog:
2.02pm GMT
The Treasury committee hearing with HSBC, and HMRC, will be broadcast live on the web, here. (right-click to open in a new page)
2.00pm GMT
Greg Wise, the actor married to Oscar winner Emma Thompson, has announced that the couple will refuse to pay tax until those who evaded tax through HSBC's Swiss arm are jailed.
Wise told the Evening Standard that:
"I want to stop paying tax, until everyone pays tax,"
"I have actively loved paying tax, because I am a profound fucking socialist and I believe we are all in it together. But I am disgusted with HMRC. I am disgusted with HSBC. And I'm not paying a penny more until those evil bastards go to prison."
1.53pm GMT
The revelations about HSBC's Swiss banking operations broke on the evening of Sunday, February 8th, and dominated the media for days.
The Guardian's full coverage of the story is online here:
1.49pm GMT
HSBC CEO Gulliver &Chairman Flint to answer MPs' questions about their Swiss bank at 14.15GMT.First time they'll be on camera since scandal
1.43pm GMT
I'm switching my attention to parliament now, where the two top executives at banking giant HSBC are appearing before the Treasury committee soon.
MPs have turned up the heat on HSBC by summoning its boss, Stuart Gulliver, at the last minute to give evidence alongside the group's chairman.
Revelations that Gulliver, brought in as a reforming chief executive of Britain's biggest bank, had a bank account in Switzerland that was routed through Panama prompted the Treasury select committee to call him in to give evidence.
1.14pm GMT
Time to recap, before I move away from Greek matters for a few hours.
"This is what I tell my counterparts: if you think it is in your interest to shoot down progressive governments like ours, just a few days after our election, then you should fear the worst"
12.39pm GMT
Chart time! The Bank of England has unlocked a treasure trove of historic data, as it holds a research conference in London today.
Economists have been truffling for tasty highlights:
Gym time. We work around 32 hours per week. It was almost 60 back in the 1850s - not much time for the gym back then! pic.twitter.com/qcUbbQAy0q
As @tomashirstecon jokes 'there is no productivity puzzle', we've just returned to the 1857-1947 trend... pic.twitter.com/tgCtBjYeTX
Inflation adjusted UK share price index since 1700. Couple of historical highlights along the way. @DuncanWeldon pic.twitter.com/7DSY7UefyW
The UK's history of current accounts and currency crashes since 1816. Brace for Gold Standard advocates... pic.twitter.com/Lk91atozVo
12.30pm GMT
Over in Dublin, a banking inquiry has heard that Ireland's Central Bank took more risks with the Republic's high street banks than its state counterparts in southern European countries like Spain before the financial crash.
"It took the spirit of the times and really ran with it."
"The economy was going into a slump but it could have saved a big chunk of that money."
12.16pm GMT
Alexis Tsipras has told his MPs that Greece took a step forwards at this month's bailout negotiations, Enikos reports.
While things remain tough, his government will be judged by its ability to negotiate and govern, he added, at today's meeting.
Tsipras: We will also be judged by our ability to govern - http://t.co/gYGE70Mlmz pic.twitter.com/QR2kG9DYqK
12.13pm GMT
Syriza MPs have been gathered in the Athens parliament for over two hours listening to prime minister Alexis Tsipras dissect the deal his government signed last week.
12.09pm GMT
12.07pm GMT
With dissent within the ruling Syriza party on the rise as the magnitude of the government's climb-down sinks in, the Euro MP Dimitris Papadimoulis has also waded in, says Helena Smith.
Papadimoulis told SKAI TV this morning that the government is going to ride out the storm.
"None of the government's senior members are going to pull the rug from under [prime minister Alexis] Tsipras at a time when we have only just begun and the difficulties lie before us."
"And when we succeed, it will be a breath of air [with which] to confront the humanitarian crisis".
12.01pm GMT
Quartz have helpfully deconstructed the letter which Greece's creditors sent to Athens yesterday:
Here's what the Eurogroup really told the Greek government: http://t.co/YDNCJbd4fw
11.43am GMT
Over in Athens Greece's labour minister, Panos Skourletis has pledged that the next four months will be a period of "daily negotiation," as debt repayment demands loom.
"The next four months will be four months of daily negotiation."
11.31am GMT
World stock markets hit a record high this morning, the FT reports, as relief over the Greek bailout talks helped to push shares higher.
A solid day's trading in Asia pushed the FTSE All-World index up to a new high, after the UK FTSE 100, German DAX and US Dow Jones indices all posted record closing highs on Tuesday.
Wrote this @FTLex note on AO World a year ago to the day. Since it's off 28% at pixel, holds up pretty well http://t.co/m8dmTuJdk2
10.59am GMT
Investors have paid Germany for the chance to lend it money for five years, for the first time ever.
Germany auctioned a3.3bn of five-year debt at an average yield, or interest rate, of -0.08% this morning, meaning traders paid more than the face value of the debt.
Paying to lend to GE RT@MarcoBabic1: Germany AUCTIONS 5-YEAR NOTES AT NEGATIVE YIELD FOR FIRST TIME. YIELD IS -0.08% pic.twitter.com/ea8DW6TDaq
This world we live in, redux. *GERMANY AUCTIONS 5-YEAR NOTES AT NEGATIVE YIELD FOR FIRST TIME
10.41am GMT
Europe will hand racists and nationalists a victory if it does not support the new Greek government, finance chief Yanis Varoufakis has warned.
Interview du ministre grec des finances #YanisVaroufakis #yanis dans #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/Byo8q7egBc
In an interview published on Wednesday - the second edition since the satirical weekly was attacked by Islamist gunmen - the leftist academic says European government's will suffer if governments like his are "asphyxiated."
"This is what I tell my counterparts: if you think it is in your interest to shoot down progressive governments like ours, just a few days after our election, then you should fear the worst," he said.
France: di(C)part en douceur pour les ventes du nouveau Charlie Hebdo http://t.co/zmNgwm3B4L pic.twitter.com/Z1KzXd2Im8
10.11am GMT
Greece's finance minister has now weighed in on the privatisation issue, saying that sales that haven't been completed might be changed.
Yanis Varoufakis told the Real FM radio station that:
"We will not change the privatisations that have already been done."
"With the privatisations that are ongoing, the Greek government can implement the law and change some terms, and also examine the legality."
9.47am GMT
Alexis Tsipras will soon face his first protest rally since becoming prime minister.
Greece's communist party has called a demonstration on Friday night, against the bailout agreement hammered out late last week.
"The agreement and the list of reforms contain all the anti-popular policies of New Democracy and Pasok parties [the previous government]".
Greek Communist Party KKE planning 1st anti-government demonstration, will submit anti-bailout legislation http://t.co/JUyiSZUGOc #Greece
9.27am GMT
Germany's Rheinische Post newspaper is reporting today that Berlin politicians expect Greece will receive a third bailout this summer, of at least a20bn.
It also predicts that up to 60 government MPs could rebel on Friday, when the Bundestag votes on Greece's four-month bailout extension. Here's the full story.
9.10am GMT
Over in Germany, finance minister Wolfgang Schiuble has done his bit for international goodwill by questioning whether Greece's government can be trusted.
Discussing the Greek bailout extension on SWR2 radio, Schiuble said:
"It wasn't easy an easy decision for us but neither was it easy for the Greek government because (they) had told the people something completely different in the campaign and afterwards,"
"The question now is whether one can believe the Greek government's assurances or not. There's a lot of doubt in Germany, that has to be understood."
Mehr Zeit fi1/4r Griechenlands Reformen. Wir haben Finanzminister Schiuble interviewt: http://t.co/Xk7YXVPTVX @BMF_Bund pic.twitter.com/L9vbJV9P8B
9.08am GMT
Greece's energy minister has declared that the privatisation of the country's largest electricity provider, PPC, and power grid operator ADMIE will not proceed, despite the reforms pledged yesterday.
Panagiotis Lafazanis told the Ethnos newspaper that:
"The tender for ADMIE will not go ahead.
The companies have not submitted binding bids so it will not be completed. That is also the case with PPC."
8.48am GMT
No fresh record highs in the stock markets this morning, yet anyway.
The FTSE 100 is down 2 points, after scaling new heights yesterday, while the German and French indices are flat.
Markets pretty quiet & drifting in early trade - a Greek hangover. Back in ancient times a Greek hangover cure was to eat deep-fried canary
8.40am GMT
More photos from the George Papaconstantinou trial this morning:
More: Ex-finance minister Papaconstantinou in court http://t.co/DsGm2E9Zk1 HT @ElenaBec #Greece pic.twitter.com/RMwCIX8wxw
8.32am GMT
Greece's former finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, has gone on trial this morning over charges that he removed the names of three relatives from a list of suspected tax evaders.
#Greece former FinMin Papaconstantinou pleads not guilty to forging public record charges on the 1st day of Falciani/Lagarde list trial.
8.20am GMT
A group of conservative government MPs have urged Angela Merkel to take a hard line with Athens over its bailout, in another sign of trouble ahead.
According to the FAZ newspaper, two senior members of Merkel's CDU party fear Greece is being treated too leniently.
"A simple extension of the aid programme without effective terms would mean that we are knowingly throwing further good money after bad."
8.13am GMT
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of Greek's bailout, the world economy, the financial markets and business.
The eurozone achieved a breakthrough yesterday, but the hard work is really just beginning.
"Just as we were poised to exit the memorandum and take up a precautionary credit line with much more comfortable terms, we are stuck with the old memorandum for month and are preparing for a third memorandum from July,"
Where will the more opposition to #Greece bailout extension: Bundestag or Greek parliament?
While the agreement is welcome it doesn't change the fact that Greece still has limited access to funds, and also doesn't hide the fact that both the IMF and ECB expressed concerns about the level of detail, and indicated that they would insist that Greece would need to do more if it wanted the release of additional bailout monies.
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