Chris Johnston
Business reporter

That's all from Business Live today - thanks for reading. We're back at 0600 GMT on Thursday.

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Believe it or not, life goes on in the world outside the Treasury Committee room in Westminster. It has been another bad day for Brazil's state-run oil producer Petrobras after its shares fell about 6% in Sao Paulo following a downgrade by Moody's on Tuesday. The rating agency may downgrade the company further because of concerns over the recent corruption scandal.

HMRC's Edward Troup agrees that the recent publication of some of the information contained in the data stolen by Herve Falciani may have prompted the French authorities to grant HMRC permission to share it with UK law enforcement agencies.

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Lin Homer tells MPs there is clear evidence of the effectiveness of "nudge letters" - sent to individuals or small businesses that HMRC suspects may not be paying all the tax they should. "We like people to pay their tax," she adds. And on a brighter note: "We think we are seeing significant changes in behaviour."

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HMRC has arranged a multi-agency meeting next week to discuss how the stolen HSBC Suisse data can be shared with them following the agreement with the French authorities announced on Wednesday. They include the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, Crown Prosecution Service, City of London Police and the National Crime Agency.

Ms Homer says she doesn't think there will be many more successful prosecutions of individuals for tax evasion based on the list of 1,300 names, largely because of weaknesses in the data. There has only been one successful prosecution to date.

HMRC tweets to confirm that the data stolen from HSBC by Herve Falciani can now be shared:

HMRC confirms HSBC Suisse bank data can now be shared with other law enforcement agencies and regulators: http://ow.ly/JDQ3r, external #TSC

Of the 3,200 people who were found to have a secret bank accounts, Lin Homer says that two thirds did not owe UK tax. However, the exercise has still generated £135m in revenue for the Exchequer. She adds that achieving prosecutions will be more difficult.

Edward Troup, HMRC tax assurance commissioner, explains that UK-Swiss tax agreement struck at the end of 2011 was intended to expose Britons who held secret Swiss accounts protected by strict Swiss law. It was distinct from the HSBC issue, he adds.

The UK tax system is "incredibly complex", Ms Homer says. She would like the code to be simpler but is not "holding her breath" for that to happen.

Ms Homer says French authorities have now approved use of the stolen Swiss data by HMRC more widely than originally permitted.

Lin Homer, chief executive of HMRC, is now giving evidence to MPs on the Treasury Committee about the stolen Swiss data.

That's it from HSBC. Stay tuned for Lin Homer, chief executive of HM Revenue and Customs, and two other officials who are set to be grilled next on why only one person has been prosecuted for evading tax.

Douglas Flint gives short shrift to Mr Mann's question as to whether he should have sacked Mr Gulliver: "I think Mr Gulliver is doing an outstanding job and I have every confidence in him as does the board."

Stuart Gulliver says the bank spends a total of £31m a year on advertising in the UK, of which £4.6m goes on newspapers. The most went to Metro, followed by the Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph, Times and Daily Mail.

Labour MP John Mann is incredulous that Mr Flint thinks the theft of the Swiss bank account details - which the HSBC chairman referred to earlier as "data theft" - is a bad thing. "Shouldn't you be pleased that regulators could find out what was going on?" he asks.

Douglas Flint says reports that Sue Shelley, the former head of compliance in Luxembourg at HSBC's private bank, was dismissed 18 months ago for raising concerns about tax-dodging are wrong. He asks for permission to write to the committee to explain why she really left in order to protect Ms Shelley's privacy.

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Mr Flint says that when the Swiss bank account details were stolen, HSBC's first reaction was to examine the bank's data security processes. The MPs seem surprised that the first reaction was not horror at the tax evasion.

Bloomberg banking reporter Richard Partington tweets:

Flint says "management on the ground" in Switzerland are "most accountable" for Falciani's data theft and behaviour at the unit

Douglas Flint: "The last time I got a bonus was 2010." He adds that he's waived bonuses three times in his HSBC career because he felt it was appropriate to do so.