Indian money in Swiss banks dips

Money held by Indians in Swiss banks has fallen by nearly one-third to a record low of 1.2 billion franc (about Rs 8,392 crore) amid a continuing global clampdown on the famed secrecy wall of Switzerland’s banking system.

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, as per the latest data released by the country’s central banking authority Swiss National Bank on Thursday.

This is 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 marks the second straight year of decline. The funds held by Indians with Swiss banks stood at a record high of CHF 6.5 billion (Rs 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 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively. At the end of 2015, the total funds held in Swiss banks by Indians directly stood at CHF 1,206.71 million (down from CHF 1,776 million a year ago), while the money held through ‘fiduciaries’ or wealth managers was down at CHF 10.89 million (from CHF 37.92 million at 2014-end).

The total stood at CHF 1,814 million at the end of 2014. This is the lowest-ever level of funds held through fiduciaries, which used to be in billions till 2007 but has been falling amid fears of regulatory crackdown.

The total “amounts due to customers’ savings and deposit accounts” fell to CHF 425.8 million (from 1,378 million a year ago), while the money held through other banks incidentally more than doubled to CHF 270.4 million (from CHF 100.6 million).

The ‘other liabilities’ of Swiss banks towards Indian clients, which include funds held through securities etc, rose from CHF 297 million to CHF 510.4 million.

Pakistanis beat India in stashing away funds Def-ying a global trend, money kept by Pakist-anis in Swiss banks has risen by over 16 per cent to 1.5 billion francs (over Rs 10,000 crore), which is more than what Indians have in Swiss banks.

As per the latest data released by Switzerland's central bank SNB, the total funds linked to Pakistan in Swiss banks stood at CHF 1,513 million at the end of 2015, up nearly 16 per cent from CHF 1,301 billion a year ago.

This included funds amounting to CHF 1,477 million held directly by Pakistani nationals and entities and CHF 36 million through fiduciaries or wealth managers. This is the second straight year of rise in Pakistan- linked funds in Switzerland-based banks.