Indian money in Swiss banks fall 10%

During 2012, the Indians' money in Swiss banks had fallen by over one-third to its lowest ever level of Rs 8,530 cr

Money held by Indians in Swiss banks fell about 10 per cent last year to 1.8 billion Swiss francs (about Rs 12,615 crore), amid an enhanced clampdown against the famed secrecy wall of Switzerland's banking system by Indian and other govts.

The funds held by Indians with banks in Switzerland fell 215 million Swiss Franc to 1,815 million Swiss Franc (about $1.98 billion dollar), from 2,030 million Swiss Franc, according to the latest data released on Thursday by the country's central banking authority Swiss National Bank (SNB).

This is the second lowest amount of funds held by Indians in the Swiss banks and follows an increase of over 40 per cent in the previous year, 2013.

In contrast, the money held in Swiss banks by their foreign clients from across the world surprisingly rose during 2014 to 1.5 trillion Swiss Franc ($1.6 trillion or Rs 103 lakh crore), from about Rs 90 lakh crore at the end of 2013 — the record low level so far. During 2012, the Indians' money in Swiss banks had fallen by over one-third to its lowest ever level of 1.42 billion Swiss franc (Rs 8,530 crore).

According to the latest data, the total Indian money held in Swiss banks at the end of 2014 included 1,776 million Swiss franc or Rs 12,350 crore held directly by Indian individuals and entities (down from 1,952 million Swiss Franc a year ago) and 38 million Swiss franc (down from 77.3 million Swiss francs at 2013-end) through ‘fiduciaries’ or wealth managers.

However, "amounts due to customers' savings and deposit accounts" was only 52 million Swiss Franc (down from 63 million Swiss Franc a year ago), while over 100 million Swiss Franc was due through other banks and the remaining amount of well over one billion Swiss francs have been classified as "other amounts due to the customers" from India.