HSBC has taken out adverts in national newspapers offering "sincerest apologies" over past activities at its Swiss operations.
In the open letter to its customers, shareholders and colleagues, HSBC's group chief executive Stuart Gulliver described recent media coverage about practices at the Swiss Private Bank eight years ago as a "painful experience".
However, the Business Secretary has said he wants greater assurances about tax transparency.
Vince Cable told Sky's Murnaghan programme that what emerged is "striking and unacceptable" - and he has called on former HSBC boss Lord Green to answer specific allegations about the business.
The full-page HSBC advert states: "We would like to provide some reassurance and state some of the facts that lie behind the stories.
"The media focus has been on historical events that show the standards to which we operate today were not universally in place in our Swiss operations eight years ago.
"We must show we understand that the societies we serve expect more from us. We therefore offer our sincerest apologies."
The bank added that since 2008 it had established a "much tighter central control around who are our customers".
It said it had also implemented tougher standards around tax transparency.
Earlier this week Mr Gulliver sent a memo to the bank's staff saying the revelations were painful and frustrating.
The adverts come amid a political row over tax avoidance, with Labour leader Ed Miliband on Saturday vowing to carry out an inquiry into the UK's tax authority should his party win power in the next General Election.
Mr Miliband argued that people not paying their fair share of tax had left "a £34bn hole in the nation's finances".
Promising an "aggressive" review into Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) if his party wins in May, Mr Miliband pointed to suspicions of "sweetheart deals" with wealthy firms.
And the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, has told Sky News a "crackdown" is needed because there had only been one prosecution out of more than a thousand cases of tax avoidance at HSBC's private Swiss arm.
"Was that because the Conservatives were back-peddling, brushing it under the carpet? Was it because the HSBC boss had now become a minister? Was it because their donors were involved in that HSBC activity? I think we need answers from David Cameron and George Osborne, and we need them soon," he added.
This week, Mr Miliband seized on allegations about tax avoidance by HSBC clients to brand Prime Minister David Cameron a "dodgy Prime Minister, surrounded by dodgy donors".
Speaking on Sky News, Mr Cable said: "I think the worst period we went through was 10 years ago, when all the leading banks were offering industrial-scale tax avoidance to British citizens to avoid British tax - and they were doing it out of London.
"There are still things happening that should definitely not be happening."
After a week of clashes between Mr Miliband and Mr Cameron, the former Tory chancellor Ken Clarke said there needs to be agreement on a "more sensible and defensible" system for funding political parties.
Mr Clarke told The Observer newspaper that the Conservatives should break their reliance on wealthy donors and embrace the need for more state funding of politics.
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