To my knowledge at least, HSBC does not attempt to really define what a tax haven would be; rather, we try to look at the various countries from a combination of risk factors. There may be corruption within the country, and we would look at the corruption perception index. It might be things like secrecy laws. It might be FATF ratings. Rather than focus on trying to define a specific definition, we look at a combination of factors by which we then rate the country for its risk.
On March 21st, 2013. See this statement in context.