HSBC said it welcomed the ruling on Falciani, a 43-year old French citizen who had been on trial in Switzerland. HSBC’s Swiss unit has been in the spotlight since 2008, when Falciani, a former IT employee there, fled Geneva with files that were leaked to the media and were alleged to show evidence of tax evasion by clients. Falciani, who is based in France, did not attend his trial and stayed out of Switzerland while it was going on.