Now, Switzerland to publish list of dormant bank accounts

Having started making the names of Indians and other foreign nationals with Swiss bank accounts under the public scanner, Switzerland will now publish a list of accounts that have remained unclaimed for 60 years.

The list would be published later this year, by the Swiss banking ombudsman and would include unclaimed assets held by foreigners in bank accounts, while giving their lawful beneficiaries an opportunity to submit a claim.

These accounts have remained unclaimed since 1955. Speculation is rife there could be accounts belonging to some erstwhile kings, members of ruling families of the erstwhile princely states and other wealthy individuals from India, who could have opened Swiss bank accounts but did not transfer the ownership to their children or other persons.

Swiss authorities and banks are yet to make any details public about the nationality of such account holders.

Without giving any specific figures or details, senior officials at some Swiss banks confirmed there are quite a few accounts belonging to Indian nationals which could be made public along with the full list towards the end of this year.

Some such accounts include those where ownership has been under dispute as multiple beneficiaries from India, including those claiming to be descendants of erstwhile kings, put forth their claims but have been unable to provide any supporting evidence.

The Swiss banking ombudsman said the list will include accounts which had a minimum balance of 500 Swiss francs and have been dormant for minimum of 50 years.

An account is declared dormant in Switzerland if the bank has had no contact with the customer for 10 years.

The ombudsman further said that a new banking law, which has come into force this year, has mandated that “assets over 500 Swiss franc that have been dormant for 50 years — that is 60 years after the last contact — have to be published. If, following this publication, no justified claims are reported, the assets must be liquidated and their net proceeds will be transferred to the Swiss Confederation. The platform for publication and the relevant processes are currently being defined and developed. They must be operative in 2015. We will give further information at a given time.”

A spokesperson for Swiss Bankers Association, the apex body of banks based in Switzerland, said “these assets will be published by the end of this year for the first time. These are assets that the banks have for 60 years; they tried to find the beneficiaries and they have not been newly discovered,” the Basel-based SBA spokesperson told PTI in reply to emailed queries in this regard.

While the SBA did not give a direct reply to a query on whether the banks or SBA would contact the Indian government in case of the owners of such accounts being from India, the spokesperson clarified that “assets without contact or dormant assets are not illegal assets.”