Swiss Account Holders

Switzerland is home to some of the world's most expensive cities and anxiety about the cost of living has been gaining currency in local politics

Funds parked by Indian individuals and firms in Swiss banks, including through local branches and other financial institutions, fell sharply by 70 per cent in 2023 to a four-year low of 1.04 billion Swiss Francs (Rs 9,771 crore), annual data from Switzerland's central bank showed on Thursday. The decline in aggregate funds of Indian clients with Swiss banks for the second consecutive year, after hitting a 14-year-high of CHF 3.83 billion in 2021, was largely driven by a sharp plunge in funds held through bonds, securities and various other financial instruments. Besides, the amount in customer deposit accounts and funds held through other bank branches in India also declined significantly, the data showed. These are official figures reported by banks to the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and do not indicate the quantum of the much-debated alleged black money held by Indians in Switzerland. These figures also do not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks

India has received the fourth set of Swiss bank account details of its nationals and organisations as part of an annual automatic information exchange under which Switzerland has shared particulars of nearly 34 lakh financial accounts with 101 countries. Officials said the new details shared with India pertain to "hundreds of financial accounts", including many cases of multiple accounts associated with some individuals, corporates and trusts. They did not divulge specifics, citing the confidentiality clause of the information exchange and the adverse impact it may have on further investigations, but asserted that the data would be used extensively in probes of suspected tax evasion and other wrong doings including of money laundering and terror funding. In a statement, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) on Monday said that the exchange of information this year saw five new additions to the list -- Albania, Brunei Darussalam, Nigeria, Peru and Turkey. The count of financial ...

An analysis of the latest annual banking statistics released by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) showed that India remains ranked very low when it comes to money parked by Indian individuals and enterpri

In reply to an RTI query, the ministry also refused to disclose the details of black money received from other foreign countries

The first transmission of financial account information on automatic basis between the two countries took place in September 2019 for enhanced cooperation in the fight against tax evasion

The Swiss government began making details of dormant accounts public in 2015 to allow their claimants submit necessary proof to get access to those funds, which included at least 10 accounts

Modi is already facing a money-laundering probe also, though he has been denying any wrongdoing

Full details of the entire flow of funds to and from all the accounts that were active even for a single day in the year 2018 will be provided

The South Korean cryptocurrency craze might have induced Indians to shift money from traditional havens

These individuals largely include businessmen associated with companies, including the dummy ones, in sectors ranging from real estate, financial services, technology and telecom to paints, home decor