If India was able to provide additional and new information about people and entities that figure on stolen lists, they may consider it to exchange information
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 RBI data, it had 57 employees in India at the end of March 2012.
The move comes close on the heels of rival Credit Suisse Group announcing about 2,000 job cuts last month.
Stating that the focus of Parliament's winter session is bound to be on black money, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Saturday asked the government to reveal names of three members of Parliament who figure in the income tax probe list in connection with the Swiss bank accounts.
Under pressure from India and other countries, Switzerland has made key changes in its local laws governing assistance to foreign nations in their pursuit of black money allegedly stashed in Swiss banks.
Global reinsurer Swiss Reinsurance Company on Friday completed the acquisition a 3.57 per cent stake in India's newest bank
A new framework has been put in place for automatic exchange of information between Switzerland and India to help check the black money menace with effect from January 1, 2018. The funds held by Indians through fiduciaries alone used to be in billions till 2007 but began falling after that amid fears of regulatory crackdown. It is now at second-lowest level in 20 years.
Tina Ambani, wife of Reliance ADA Group chairman Anil Ambani, on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai for questioning and recording her statement in connection with an investigation linked to the alleged contravention of the foreign exchange law, official sources said. Anil Ambani had recorded his statement in the case on Monday under sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and he is expected to appear before the central agency again later this week for completion of the exercise.
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The move draws a line under the Swiss government's rescue of UBS nearly five years after the bank threatened to collapse under the weight of more than $50 billion in losses on mortgage securities.
In the eye of a storm over Supreme Court's observation on its retail banking licence in the country, Swiss banking major UBS on Tuesday said it is for the Indian government to defend the views and reasons for granting the same.
This is Chidambaram's third letter to Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer Schlumpf within four months on this matter.
Yashwant Sinha is currently on a three-day visit to Washington to hold meetings with the think-tank, members of the Indian Diaspora, Congressmen and officials of the Obama Administration.
Switzerland will be able to provide banking and other details sought by other countries, including India, from next month about a 'group of persons' even without their individual identification, provided the information has not been requested as part of some 'fishing expedition'.
India may have to wait till at least next year for information from Switzerland on possible black money trail to Swiss banks, as a treaty for the same might come into force only by the end of 2011.
For the banking system a new cycle starts in FY2024. It's fraught with fresh challenges on asset quality and profitability, warns Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
Modi promised in his 2014 election campaign to recover billions of dollars sent to tax havens abroad to avoid income tax, now about 30 per cent in India
The Singapore high court has put a freeze on deposits of $ 6.122 million following Enforcement Directorate's request on the ground that the money was "proceeds of crime" illegally siphoned off by Nirav Modi from the Punjab National Bank.
The Swiss Finance Ministry spokesperson further said the treaty states that "such persons or authorities shall use the information 'only' for such purposes.
India's banking system is expected to remain unscathed from the troubles in Credit Suisse as it has a very small presence in the country, experts said. Although Credit Suisse is more relevant to India's financial system than Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), it has very limited operations, according to a report by Jefferies India. The Switzerland-based bank, the report said, "has less than Rs 20,000 crore in assets (12th among foreign banks), presence in the derivatives market and funded 60 per cent of assets from borrowings, of which 96 per cent are up to two months.
Journalist and author Chitra Subramaniam has demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) make public its findings from the "box of evidence" received from Switzerland regarding the Bofors payoffs. Subramaniam, author of 'Boforsgate: A Journalist's Pursuit of Truth', expressed concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the evidence, questioning who opened the box, when it was opened, and what it contained. She also raised doubts about the official narrative regarding the alleged bribe in the Bofors case, suggesting the sum of Rs 64 crore may not reflect the full extent of the corruption. Subramaniam also alleged that the CBI planted stories about Hindi film actor Amitabh Bachchan to derail the investigation and launched a political vendetta against the Bachchans. She recalled that Bachchan had come to her home and asked if she had seen his name. The CBI has recently requested assistance from the United States in the case, seeking information from private investigator Michael Hershman, who claims to have crucial details about the scandal. The Bofors scandal, a major bribery case involving the Indian government and the Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors in the 1980s, pertains to allegations of a Rs 64-crore bribe in a Rs 1,437-crore deal for the supply of 400 155mm field Howitzers.
The Swiss government has officially informed Pakistan that it cannot revive cases of alleged money laundering against President Asif Ali Zardari as the matter is time-barred, Law Minister Zahid Hamid has said.
Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament will submit on Friday declarations to the presiding officers of their respective Houses of Parliament, stating that they do not have any illegal money stashed in any foreign bank or tax haven abroad. BJP leader L K Advani had declared that all party MPs will submit declarations that they do not have any illegal funds in Swiss banks or tax havens. The issue was discussed at the BJP parliamentary party meeting on Thursday.
Swiss authorities have opened criminal proceedings against individuals on suspicion of mismanagement and money laundering related to the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA soccer World Cups in Russia and Qatar.
For stolen data, India had sought information about its taxpayers who had secret bank accounts in HSBC Geneva.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sought details about lenders' exposures to the Adani Group, banking sources said, a day after the conglomerate withdrew the Rs 20,000-crore follow on public offer (FPO) of its flagship firm Adani Enterprises amid the steep fall in its stock prices. On Wednesday, Swiss lender Credit Suisse stopped accepting bonds by Adani group companies as collaterals for margin lending. The going has been tough for the diversified conglomerate over the past week ever since US-based short seller Hindenburg Research levelled a slew of allegations about the group's operations, calling it the biggest corporate con ever.
These individuals largely include businessmen associated with companies, including the dummy ones, in sectors ranging from real estate, financial services, technology and telecom to paints, home decoration, textiles, engineering goods, gems and jewellery. Several of these persons and their companies are said to be based in Kolkata, Gujarat, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai.
Switzerland remains the 'biggest private banking financial centres for cross border wealth management' with assets worth over CHF 2.11 trillion ($2.2 trillion), as per the study conducted by the Swiss Bankers Association and the Boston Consulting Group.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday slapped a fine of Rs 2000 ($25) and a four-month jail sentence on fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya. In addition, the former liquor baron has been asked to deposit $40 million with 8 per cent interest within a month, failing which his properties would be attached to recover the amount. The court held Mallya guilty of contempt after it was brought to its notice that he had transferred $40 million to his children in the US.
The ED is investigating Lodha after it booked him on criminal charges for his alleged involvement in two high-profile black money cases of illegal conversion of old notes post demonetisation.
The Swiss National Bank, the country's central banking authority, has estimated the funds currently held by Indians in Swiss banks at a mere $1.98 billion. Fear of disclosure due to greater scrutiny of this illicit wealth has played the main role in the flight of capital.
The broader economy risks a potential flight of foreign portfolio capital, therefore pressure on the rupee and more bad news on the stock market, warns T N Ninan.
The IMF on Tuesday projected a growth rate of 6.1 per cent for India in 2023, which is a 0.2 percentage point upward revision compared with the April projection. This is reflective of the "momentum" from stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 as a result of stronger domestic investment, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. "Growth in India is projected at 6.1 per cent in 2023, a 0.2 percentage point upward revision compared with the April projection," it said in its latest update of the World Economic Outlook.
'Considering that there was an estimated Rs 10 lakh crores of Indian money stolen and kept in foreign tax havens, the UPA government with one stroke of its tainted pen has granted immunity to tax-evaders who had stashed the loot in tax havens.'
With one of its members, Pradip Burman, being named as an account holder in a foreign bank in the black money issue, Dabur India promoter family, Burmans on Monday said the account complied with all legal requirements.
In a shocking revelation, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said black money mainly comes from India.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday described the electoral bonds scheme as a 'very big scam' and demanded that a special investigation team (SIT) be set up with court-appointed officials to probe the alleged quid pro quo and wrongdoings under it.
Switzerland on Thursday said it would share data of black money allegedly stashed away by Indians in Swiss banks in accordance with the tax treaty between the two countries.
