India gets first set of Swiss bank account details

NEW DELHI/BERNE: India has got the first set of Swiss bank account details of its nationals under a new automatic information exchange pact (AEOI), a major milestone in the government's fight against black money stashed abroad.


This is the first time that India has received details from Swiss authorities under the AEOI framework, which provides for exchange of information on financial accounts, currently active as well as those accounts that were closed during 2018, the year in which the framework agreement became effective.

However, the information exchange is governed by strict confidentiality clauses, and the FTA officials refused to disclose specific details on the number of accounts or about the quantum of financial assets associated with the Indian clients of Swiss banks.

So, who are likely to be affected by this new information.

According to experts, the data received by India can be quite useful for establishing a strong prosecution case against those who have any unaccounted wealth, as it provides entire details of deposits and transfers as well as of all earnings, including through investments in securities and other assets.

On condition of anonymity, several officials said the details relate mostly to businessmen, including non-resident Indians now settled in several South-East Asian countries as well as in the US, the UK and even some African and South American countries.

Besides, there are at least 100 cases of older accounts held by Indians that might have been closed before 2018, for which Switzerland is in the process of sharing details with India under an earlier framework of mutual administrative assistance as Indian authorities had provided prima facie evidence of tax-related wrongdoing by those account holders.

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These relate to people engaged in businesses like auto components, chemicals, textiles, real estate, diamond and jewellery and steel products.

A Swiss delegation was in India in August before the first set of details could get shared and the two sides also discussed possible steps to expedite execution of tax information sharing requests made by India in specific cases.

It is feared many Indians might have closed their accounts after a global crackdown on black money led to Switzerland buckling under international pressure to open its banking sector for scrutiny to clear the long-held perception of Swiss banks being safe haven for undisclosed funds.

Switzerland agreed to AEOI with India after a long process, including review of necessary legal framework in India on data protection and confidentiality.