Swiss banks deposits by Indians rises to Rs 7,000 crore in 2017

In 2017, Swiss banks, totals the money deposited by Indians to CHF 1.01 billion that is Rs 7,000 crore. Unlike a three-year downward trend among India’s clampdown on suspected black money dumped there.

The total funds held by all foreign clients of Swiss banks rose about 3 per cent to CHF 1.46 trillion or about Rs 100 lakh crore in comparison to earlier years. The annual data is officially released today by Swiss National Bank (SNB), the central banking authority of the Alpine nation.

For years banks of Switzerland are known for their famed secrecy walls. The Indian money in Swiss banks had fallen by 45 per cent in 2016, marking their biggest ever yearly plunge, to CHF 676 million (about Rs 4,500 crore) — the lowest ever since the European nation began making the data public in 1987.

According to the SNB data, the total funds held by Indians directly with Swiss banks rose to 999 million Swiss franc (Rs 6,891 crore) in 2017, while the same held through fiduciaries or wealth managers increased to CHF 16.2 million (Rs 112 crore). These figures stood at CHF 664.8 million and CHF 11 million, respectively, at the end of 2016.

As per the latest data, the Indian money in Swiss banks included CHF 464 million (Rs 3,200 crore) in the form of customer deposits, CHF 152 million (Rs 1,050 crore) through other banks and CHF 383 million (Rs 2,640 crore) as ‘other liabilities’ such as securities at the end of 2017.

The total funds held by Indians with Swiss banks stood at a record high of CHF 6.5 billion (Rs 23,000 crore) at 2006-end, but came down to nearly one-tenth of that level in about a decade.

The latest data from Zurich-based SNB comes months after a new framework having been put in place for automatic exchange of information between Switzerland and India to help check the black money hazard.

Switzerland has already begun sharing foreign client details on evidence of wrongdoing provided by India. There were several rounds of discussions between Indian and Swiss government officials on the new framework and also for expediting the pending information requests about suspected illicit accounts of Indians in Swiss banks.

Annual banking statistics, 2017 https://t.co/7dFNkvG2l7

— Swiss National Bank (@SNB_BNS_en) June 28, 2018

On directions of the Supreme Court, India had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe cases of alleged black money of Indians, including funds stashed abroad.

The issue of black money has always been a matter of big debate in India and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for such funds.

In 2015, the money held by Indians in Swiss banks had fallen by nearly one-third to CHF 1,217.6 million (over Rs 8,000 crore). Prior to that, these funds fell by 10 per cent to CHF 1.8 billion in 2014, after a rise of 43 per cent in 2013 to CHF 2.03 billion.

The total assets of Swiss banks in India, however, fell by about 18 per cent in 2017 to CHF 3.2 billion in the second consecutive year of decline. This does not include any tangible assets like real estate and properties.

The amount owed by Indian clients to Swiss banks fell by 48 per cent in 2017 to CHF 210 million.

Also read: Demonetisation scam: Ajay Patel says ‘No Big Deal’ on Rs 745.59 crores deposits in Amit Shah’s bank