Funds deposited by Indian nationals and firms in Swiss banks rose to a 14-year-high of 3.83 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 30,500 crore) in 2021, PTI reported on Thursday, citing the annual data from Switzerland’s central bank.
This is the second consecutive year that funds deposited by Indian clients in Swiss banks have increased. Last year, a total of 2.55 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 20,700 crore) were reported in the Indian accounts, an increase of 183% from the 899 million Swiss francs (Rs 6,625 crore) in 2019.
The deposits stood at a record high of 6.5 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 52,500 crore) in 2006.
The data is a collection of official figures reported to the central bank by various individual banks in the country. However, it does not account for the alleged black money held by Indians in Switzerland, according to PTI. It also does not include the money that Indians might have in Swiss banks in the names of third-country entities.
A notion of secrecy has always been associated with the banks in Switzerland, making them popular among people looking to stash their wealth. In 1934, a law was passed by the Alpine republic, making sharing information of clients with foreign countries a criminal offence, according to Business Standard.
However, following pressure from several countries, Switzerland began sharing informationabout people holding accounts in their banks with other countries from 2018 onwards, according to Reuters. The information includes the owner’s name, address, country of residence and tax identification number as well as the reporting institution, account balance and capital income.
According to the data released on Thursday, the Swiss National Bank said that the money held in customers’ savings or deposit accounts of Indian account holders increased to a seven-year high of 602.03 million Swiss francs (over Rs 4,800 crore) in 2021.
In 2020, it was 504 million (over Rs 4,000 crore) and 550 million Swiss francs (over Rs 4,442 crore) in 2019.
The money held through fiduciaries and trusts also increased to 3 million Swiss francs (over 24.75 crore) from 2 million Swiss francs (over Rs 16.5 crore) in 2020. In 2019 it was 7.4 million Swiss francs (over Rs 59.76 crore).
The amounts deposited through bonds, securities and various other financial instruments also rose to 2 million Swiss francs (over Rs 16.5 crore) from 1.66 million Swiss francs (nearly Rs 12.8 crore).
Meanwhile, the “locational banking statistics” of the Bank for International Settlement, show a decline of nearly 8.3% during 2021, in Indian deposits in Swiss banks, to $115.5 million (Rs 927 crore). This data has been described in the past by Indian and Swiss authorities as a more reliable measure for deposits by Indian individuals in Swiss banks, PTI reported.
In October 2019, Swiss tax authorities shared with India the first tranche of details about the financial accounts of Indian clients in Swiss banks under the automatic information exchange framework between the two countries. However, the finance ministry had refused to make details of the data public, saying such disclosures are prohibited under “confidentiality provisions” of a tax treaty between India and Switzerland.
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