Zurich: Money held by Indian companies and individuals in Swiss banks has risen 50 percent to a 14-year high of 3.83 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 30,500 crore) in 2021. It also includes money deposited in branches of Swiss banks and other financial institutions in India.
According to the annual data released by the Central Bank of Switzerland (SNB) on Thursday, Indians’ money in Swiss banks has increased due to an increase in stake and customer deposits through related instruments including securities. Earlier, by the end of the year 2020, Indian money in Swiss banks was 2.55 billion Swiss francs (Rs 20,700 crore). Moreover, deposits in savings or deposit accounts of Indian customers hit a seven-year high of around Rs 4,800 crore in 2021 after two years of decline.
According to the data, the total liability of Swiss banks to Indian customers at the end of 2021 is 383.19 crore Swiss francs. Out of this, 6020 million Swiss francs are in the form of customer deposits, while 1225 million Swiss francs are held through other banks and 3 million Swiss francs through trusts, etc.
These figures have been given to the SNB by the banks of Switzerland. These do not reflect the alleged black money of Indians in Swiss banks. These figures also do not include money that Indians, NRIs, or others may have in Swiss banks in the name of entities of a third country.
However, the Swiss government does not consider the money of Indians deposited in Swiss banks as ‘black money. Switzerland says it has always actively supported India in its fight against tax evasion. According to statistics, when it comes to foreign customers, the UK has 379 billion Swiss franc deposits in Swiss banks, which is the highest. After this, US customers have 168 billion Swiss francs in Swiss banks.
Only the US and UK are included in the list of clients with deposits over 100 billion. At the same time, the list of top ten countries having money in Swiss banks includes West Indies, Germany, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bahamas, Netherlands, Cayman Islands, and Cyprus. India ranks 44th in this list, ahead of countries like Poland, South Korea, Sweden, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Deposits of citizens of Pakistan also increased to 712 million Swiss francs in Swiss banks and 872 million Swiss francs for customers of Bangladesh. Along with India, the alleged black money in Swiss banks has always been in discussions in neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan.
