India gets 1st set of Swiss bank account details

New Delhi/Berne, Oct. 7: India has got the first set of Swiss bank account details of its nationals under a new automatic information exchange (AEOI) pact, a major milestone in the government’s fight against black money stashed abroad.

India is among 75 countries with which Switzerland’s Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has exchanged information on financial accounts within the framework of global standards on AEOI, an FTA spokesperson told PTI.

The next exchange will take place in September 2020, the spokesperson added.

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. However, the AEOI only relates to accounts that are officially in the name of Indians and they might include

◗ The information, under Automatic Exchange of Information pact, relates to accounts that are officially in the name of Indians and might include those used for business and other genuine purposes and is governed by strict confidentiality clauses

those used for business and other genuine purposes.

Overall, the FTA has sent information on around 3.1 million financial accounts to the partner states and received information on around 2.4 million from them.

The exchanged details include identification, account and financial information. These include name, address, state of

◗ Sources said the details relate mostly to businessmen, including NRIs settled in South-East Asian countries as well as US, UK and some African and South American countries

◗ Experts said the data can be useful for establishing a strong prosecution case against those who have any unaccounted wealth

New Delhi, Oct. 7: India’s green cover has increased by 15,000 square kilometres, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday.

Responding to a question on the issue of felling trees in Mumbai’s Aarey forest, in which the Supreme Court has restrained authorities from cutting anymore trees, Mr Javadekar told the reporters here that he would not like to comment on a sub judice matter.

“The Supreme Court has given a decision on it, so I will not comment on the matter,” he told a press conference at the ministry.