Assets up as HSBC Private Bank shrugs off data theft

* H1 net profit 304 mln Sfr ($295.1 million), down 26 pct

* Net new money inflows of 4.9 bln Sfr

* Assets under mgt up 3 pct to 195 bln Sfr

GENEVA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - HSBC Private Bank attracted 4.9 billion Swiss francs ($4.8 billion) of new client money in the first half, as strong inflows from emerging markets helped it shrug off a damaging data theft and an Italian tax amnesty that caused withdrawals in Europe.

First-half net profit fell 26 percent to 304 million francs as lower interest income far outweighed a strong increase in commission and trading income, the Swiss wealth management unit of HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L)(0005.HK) said on Thursday.

"Clients switched out of cash into investments to take advantage of the opportunities in the markets. However, results were impacted by lower net interest income as a result of the low interest rate environment", the bank said in a statement.

Assets under management rose 3 percent to 195 billion francs, showing the bank managed to avoid the investment losses which many peers have experienced largely as a result of the performance of global equities markets this year.

The bank said it has spoken to almost all current clients that were affected by a data theft reported earlier this year, when HSBC reported a former employee had stolen data on up to 24,000 Swiss client accounts. (Reporting by Robin Bleeker; Writing by Martin de Sa'Pinto; Editing by David Holmes) ($1=1.030 Swiss Franc