Lord Evans quit his role with the National Crime Agency to keep a lucrative directorship with scandal-hit HSBC . A former intelligence chief has quit his role with Britain ’ s top crime fighting agency to keep a lucrative directorship with scandal-hit HSBC . Baron Evans of Weardale , the former director-general of MI5 , has resigned from the board of the publicly-funded National Crime Agency ( NCA ) after just a year , due to a ‘ perceived conflict of interest ’ as the bank has come under fire over tax-dodging allegations . In a statement , the crossbench peer admitted there has been ‘ a lot of controversy ’ over claims that HSBC enabled clients of its Swiss private banking arm to avoid tax . But he chose to keep his £3,000-a-day role with the financial giant rather than stay with the law enforcement agency which is Britain ’ s equivalent of the FBI . His decision to quit the NCA and stay with HSBC could put further pressure on Rona Fairhead , who is clinging on to her well-paid positions as a director of the bank and chairman of the BBC ’ s governing body . Lord Evans , who was director-general of MI5 from 2007 to 2013 , wrote in his resignation letter : ‘ There has been a lot of controversy over the alleged actions of HSBC clients and of the bank itself in recent weeks . I believe that though there is no actual conflict of interests there could be a perceived conflict of interests between my two roles. ’ His resignation was ‘ reluctantly ’ accepted last week by the head of the NCA , Keith Bristow , who said : ‘ I have accepted the resignation of Lord Evans with great regret . While I do not believe there is an actual conflict of interests , any perception of one has the potential to adversely affect the reputation of the NCA . Jonathan has made an enormously valuable contribution to the NCA over the past 15 months. ’ After more than 30 years in the security service , Lord Evans retired in 2013 and soon afterwards became a non-executive director of HSBC , earning £125,000 for 40 days work a year . He also became a member of a committee the bank set up to combat financial crime , in the wake of the scandal that saw it fined £1billion in the US for allowing Mexican drug gangs to launder money through its accounts . Other members of the team include Bill Hughes , a former head of the NCA ’ s predecessor the Serious Organised Crime Agency , and the former head of HM Revenue & Customs , Dave Hartnett . But despite their efforts , HSBC has been dragged into another scandal that could lead to a police investigation . Baron Evans of Weardale esigned from the board of the publicly-funded National Crime Agency , pictured during a training exercise . Earlier this year leaked documents emerged that suggested HSBC ’ s Swiss private bank helped clients dodge millions of pounds in tax . The French authorities have since agreed that the account data , now held by the taxman , can be shared for the ‘ purpose of investigating criminal offence ’ and a meeting to discuss a probe has been held at which the NCA was present alongside the Serious Fraud Office , the Financial Conduct Authority , the Crown Prosecution Service , City of London Police and EuroJust . The NCA , set up to tackle organised crime across the country , has said it has no ‘ live role ’ in any probe into the bank ’ s activities . Lord Evans was appointed a non-executive director of the newly established NCA in December 2013 . Its annual accounts show he was paid less than £5,000 in its first few months and would be paid less than £15,000 a year . HSBC will come under fresh attack from MPs tomorrow when the Public Accounts Committee quizzes former taxman turned bank adviser Mr Hartnett . Chairman Margaret Hodge said there was still a lot of work to be done in exposing tax-dodging by British companies . ‘ I would be amazed if HSBC were alone . ’
Baron Evans of HSBC has resigned from the the National Crime Agency . The former MI5 boss quit the role to keep a lucrative directorship at Weardale . He left after a 'conflict of interest' following the bank 's tax-dodging claims .