Finance Ministry Clarifies On Reports Of Money In Swiss Banks

The Finance Ministry today clarified on reports that had emerged in the media stating that funds of Indian in Swiss Banks had risen to Rs 20,700 crores.

"Certain reports have appeared in the media on June 16, 2021 stating that funds of Indians in Swiss Banks have risen to over Rs 20,700 crore (CHF 2.55 billion) at the end of 2020 from Rs 6,625 crore (CHF 899 million) at the end of 2019, reversing a 2 year declining trend. It has also been stated that this is also the highest figure of deposits in the last 13 years.

Media reports allude to the fact that the figures reported are official figures reported by banks to Swiss National Bank (SNB) and do not indicate the quantum of much debated alleged black money held by Indians in Switzerland. Further, these statistics do not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of third-country entities," a release from PIB stated.

The ministry clarified that the customer deposits have actually fallen from the end of 2019.

"The funds held through fiduciaries has also more than halved from end of 2019. The biggest increase is in "Other amounts due from customers". These are in form of bonds, securities and various other financial instruments.

It is pertinent to point out that India and Switzerland are signatories to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC) and both countries have also signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) pursuant to which, the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) is activated between the two countries for sharing of financial account information annually for calendar year 2018 onwards," the release stated.