After Switzerland Names 7 Indians, More Expected, Say Officials

Bern, Switzerland:  Industrialist Yash Birla is among the seven Indian bank account holders named by Switzerland’s tax authorities on an official online gazette. More names could be released in the coming weeks, officials of Switzerland’s Federal Tax Administration have told NDTV.

Asked whether the names made public were of those who had refused to cooperate, officials said it is “just procedure.”

India has asked Switzerland for details on these individuals in connection with its investigation into black or untaxed money stashed in Swiss bank accounts.

Swiss authorities say only names of individuals who couldn’t be traced by the bank and the Swiss government, are being published. They say these people are seen as eligible for a tax evasion probe.

“If they cannot be traced, names are going to be put in the federal gazette. But it’s just the names. You don’t know why we are asking them. That’s a secret,” Patrick Teuscher, spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Tax Administration, told NDTV.

These individuals are being given a chance to get in touch with Swiss authorities; if they don’t, then their account details will be handed over to India under the double taxation agreement between the two countries.

If these clients say the Swiss government should not share their information, the case will go to courts there.

Either way, those guilty of tax evasion are likely to find themselves in a spot.

Switzerland is notorious for its banking secrecy, so its move to make account holders’ names public has come as a big surprise and has raised speculation that it is under pressure.

The country has long refused to share information based on “stolen data” – for instance, the list of account holders leaked by former HSBC employee Herve Falciani. But the leaked data led to the bank being indicted not only in France, Belgium and Argentina but also in Switzerland.

“At the moment we don’t react to requests on stolen data but that could change. We don’t know,” said Mr Teuscher.

Sources told NDTV that investigators from many countries are using stolen data but not mentioning its source in the formal requests made to Switzerland.

In 2011, Switzerland received about 370 requests for information. The number shot up to more than 2700 in 2014. India has made the highest number of requests to Switzerland, after Croatia and France.