Loans, deposits by Indians in Swiss banks down 34.5% in 2017

Loans and deposits of non-bank Indians in Swiss banks decreased by 34.5 per cent in 2017 as compared with the previous year, Parliament was informed Tuesday.

There was a significant reduction in Swiss non-bank loans and deposits of Indians by as much as 80.2 per cent between 2013 and 2017, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

"The data collected by Swiss National Bank in collaboration with Bank for International Settlements (BIS) shows that the loans and deposits of Indians, other than banks, in the Swiss banks decreased by 34.5 per cent in the year 2017 as compared to 2016," he said.

Referring to the treaty signed between India and Switzerland for automatic sharing of information, the minister said the government would start receiving information from September 2019 which will help track black money held in Swiss banks.

"The necessary legal arrangements have been put in place and from September 2019 onwards, India will receive annually, information of financial accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland for the calendar year 2018 and subsequent years. This will be useful in tracing unaccounted income and assets of Indian residents in Switzerland and bringing the same to tax," Shukla said.

The use and disclosure of the information received is governed by the confidentiality provisions of the India-Switzerland tax treaty, he added.