Indians have ‘few deposits’ in Swiss banks, says bankers’ association

New Delhi:Indians have "few deposits" in Swiss banks compared to other global financial hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong, says a grouping of private bankers in Switzerland amid stepped-up efforts to check the black money menace.

Money held by Indians in Swiss banks declined to a record low of 1.2 billion franc (about ₹8,392 crore) at the end of 2015, as per the latest available official data. However, no official data is available for money in other global hubs.

Committing itself to the global framework for automatic exchange of tax information, Switzerland last week ratified the decision to implement this regime with India and 40 other jurisdictions. The framework for automatic exchange of information requires strict adherence to data confidentiality, but the Geneva-based Association of Swiss Private Banks said it has no particular concern over India, where the rule of law seems to be properly upheld.

"There are also rather few deposits of Indian residents in Swiss Banks”.

When asked about trends in terms of deposits from Indian residents, Langlo said it has not noticed any particular trend.

"It is simply more practical for them to open an account in an Asian financial centre than in Switzerland," Langlo noted.

Currently, the association has nine member banks employing around 7,500 people across the globe, as per its website. The grouping represents the business interests of privately-owned Swiss banks that specialise in wealth management. According to data from the Swiss National Bank, the funds held by Indians with banks in Switzerland fell by CHF 596.42 million to CHF 1,217.6 million at the end of 2015.

It was the lowest amount of funds held by Indians in the Swiss banks ever since the Alpine nation began making the data public in 1997 and marked the second straight year of decline. The funds held by Indians with Swiss banks stood at a record high of ₹23,000 crore at 2006-end.

However, the quantum of these funds has been falling since then, except for in 2011 and in 2013 when Indians' money had risen by over 12% and 42 %.

Senior AIADMK Amma leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai on Sunday met Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao here, a day after opposition parties sought dismissal of the K Palaniswami government over alleged horsetrading of ruling party MLAs.

The visit of Thambidurai, also party propaganda secretary, assumes significance as it came at a time when the DMK is raising in a big way the issue of alleged pay-offs to MLAs, which came to fore in a ‘sting’ operation by a TV channel, and pressing for a fresh trust vote.

However, Raj Bhavan officials described the meeting as a “courtesy call.”

Emerging from the meeting with the Governor, Thambidurai rubbished the allegation of horse-trading of ruling party MLAs ahead of the February 18 trust vote, saying purchasing legislators was not possible in view of the anti-defection law.

“No one travels by horse these days and there is no horse trading,” he told reporters here

A vote against party line violating the whip would strip the legislators of their assembly membership and hence there was no scope for bargain, the AIADMK leader asserted.

“When that is the case, giving money to MLAs can never happen,” he said dismissing the charge of pay-offs to the legislators in support for the trust vote.

After the anti-defection law came into force, “no MLA can go out of the party,” he said.

The DMK-led opposition had yesterday urged the Governor to ‘nullify’ the February 18 trust vote and direct CM Palaniswami to seek a fresh floor test. The opposition parties, in a meeting with the governor, also urged him to dismiss the government.

They also urged the Governor to order a probe by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate into the alleged pay-offs.

The DMK has already moved the Madras High Court seeking a CBI and DRI probe and the plea is set to come up for hearing tomorrow.