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Can share
Indians' Swiss bank account details: Envoy
Sunday February 13, 2011 04:32:55 PM,
Rohit Vaid, IANS
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New Delhi:
Switzerland is willing to share information on Indians holding
secret bank accounts there as part of New Delhi's effort to bring
back an estimated $1.4 trillion black money in tax havens abroad,
the country's envoy Philippe Welti has said.
"We now have an agreement with the Government of India. Under it
if the government sends us a request, we will comply and provide
the necessary information, which is asked of us," Welti told IANS
in an interview.
"Now there is awareness in my country that people in India think
that our country is used to hide tax-evaded money. That's why
Switzerland has decided that whenever a request for information is
sent, it would be provided under tax fraud and evasion," he added.
"I do understand this is a sensitive case in India, and
Switzerland is ready to fully cooperate within the legal framework
of our signed agreement," he said, adding that a reworked treaty
with India on double taxation will help further after
ratification.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said last month that secrecy
clauses in India's treaties with other countries were preventing
the government from disclosing the names of Indians with black
money abroad, estimated at $462 billion to $1.4 trillion.
The government, he said, had also submitted the names of some
suspected offenders in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court, which
had asked the executive to be more serious on black money, as it
constituted a "plunder" of the nation's wealth.
Mukherjee also said notices were served on 17 Indians suspected of
having black money abroad, but ruled out revealing their names. He
said their names will be out only when prosecution starts.
The Swiss envoy, while speaking to IANS, also said that the issue
of black money had no impact on the country's image -- which
remained one of the most favoured and picturesque travel
destinations in the world.
"Switzerland's image is not impacted in any way. If private
individuals from India have been banking there, it does not
necessarily mean that are stashing away money or not. I don't
know! All I know is my country was providing a service of
banking," he said.
(Rohit Vaid can be
reached at rohit.v@ians.in)
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