Of course we always knew this….that many Indians have been stashing away black monies in Swiss banks for decades…but when one hear’s the Quantum from the Horse’s Mouth itself it has to invoke anger
Just read today’s Express Buzz coverage of the Swiss Banking Association Report of 2006 that reveals that India topped the List of Countries with it’s citizens having deposits of US $ 1456 Billion in Swiss banks…Russia came in second at US $ 470 billion
In fact Indians have stashed away more funds in Swiss Banks than those from all other nations put together !
And the Swiss are willing to disclose in detail all the names of Indian Depositors if our Government wants this List….Our Government has preferred to stay mute on this !…No Guess as to Why !
Over 80000 Indians visited Switzerland this past year and atleast 25000 were not tourists !…that should tell you a story !
This Illegal and ill-begotten Wealth is even higher than India’s GDP Wealth of a Billion Dollars and three times that of our Market Capitalisation Wealth on BSE !
With the Indo US Nuclear deal having been signed now,I have no doubt that Mothers of Many Deals lie ahead and will create unprecedented Mother of All Opportunities for many to add to this Booty in Swiss Banks !….Just a Sad and Angry Thought !
There is a lovely TV ad by Tata Tea on creating awareness and responsibilty to exercise our Right to Vote… www.jaagore.com ….Just Praying that, against all this Corruption and Inequalities in our System,there is born a People’s Movement and a petition under the “Right To Information” Act puts pressure on our Government as to why they have not sought this List of Depositors from the Swiss Government
These illegal Swiss Bank Deposits are a Shameful and Tragic Statistic that taunts the 1.1 billion people that eke out an honest living in India and are subject to hard strife…Ofcourse they are acutely aware of this Inequality and I daresay that anger and angst will lead to agitation and aggression…Watch Out then !
9 thoughts on “US $ 1456 Billion stashed away in Swiss banks by Indians !…and our Government does not want to know who they are !”
Gaurav, it is very disturbing to realise that in a country of 1.2 billion, nobody cares to take these issues into broader public fora like parliament or in print and visual media for debate and discussion. This money if retrieved back, can enrich every citizen of this country by over 60,000 rupees. And still not even the left parties ever make an issue of it ! Is there any hope of doing anything through court intervention atleast ?
Courts will demand evidence…Swiss will not entertain an Indian citizen’s request and even if we can obtain proof they willnot confirm…the Swiss Government will only entertain a request from our Government…Obviously this will not be forthcoming…I’m not a legal eagle but I suppose one could file a PIL based on the Report of the Swiss Banking Association Report and Media Coverage of it and try and get the Court to direct our Government to get this information from the Swiss Government…Interestingly,recently the Swiss bank, UBS,co-operated with US Authorities and have released Deposit information to them of 70 people who have parked undisclosed Wealth in their Bank
Hi Gaurav,
Today I was viewing L.K. Adwani talking about this money to a press confrence. I felt that every media is stepping back to publically show this and instead of talking about this serious issue, they are more intrested in asking about Varun Gandhi. This problem is now media is also seems to be biased on this issue and running away from publishing this.
No doubt, if any(BJP/Congress)government can bring this money to india, nobody can stop india to become a developed country. Present government doesn’t seems to be intrested. Even media is also doesn’t seems intrested. Lets spread this messages to everybody so that it will reach to every responsible indian so that they will elect a government who can bring this money back to india. This matter is more improtant than any religious issue.
Hi Probeer !
Your name is a perfect fit with this blog entry !
This Swiss Monies Matter needs to be “Probe”d
Like you too, “Probe”er,many Indians too are concerned
A country-by-country breakdown of accounts in Die Banken in der Schweiz published by the Swiss National Bank (the Swiss central bank) in 2007 reveals assets belonging to Indian entities were worth only $2.5 bn or CHF2,923 million (Swiss Francs).
Ohhhhh my GOD !! At least bloggers need to be responsible in reporting stuff.. One rumor after another !!
Where are we going to stop ??
http://www.viksit.com/comment/reply/9#comment-form
Dear Ameya,
It’s apparent you are very naive…it’s actually a virtuous quality
In my blog I have linked it to the Express Coverage of this Swiss Report
Also just a day or two ago,The Times of India,Mumbai edition, had a headline on the front page that the Government of India has submitted a list of just three Indian names, to the Supreme Court ,who have an aggregate of US $ 8 billion stashed away in Swiss Banks
The Report from which you are quoting would be just the tip of the iceberg
Anyway appreciate your intensity and agitated thought and thanks for taking the trouble to respond
The Swiss Banking Association DOES NOT publish such information as to how much money has been deposited by individuals from which country. Repeat, it DOES NOT publish information on the assets of its members.
For your reference, there are two annual reports of the Swiss Banking Association below.
http://www.swissbanking.org/en/d_jb_06-07.pdf
http://www.swissbanking.org/en/d_jb_05-06.pdf
Can you tell me which particular report you are referring to?
Hi Ashok,
Thanks for responding…I had blogged this on October 15,2008 after reading an Express Buzz Report on the same.I had provided the link to this in the blog,but find it has been removed or blacked out.Express Buzz is part of the Indian Express Group
After this report,there was a lot of debate on this and responses such as yours were voiced as to the fact that quantum is never disclosed by any Swiss Report
The vital point remains that there is a lot of Indian Money stashed away overseas…only the Swiss Government and Banks can authenticate such amounts in their Banks ….Indian Government is currently investigating several Indian Accounts in Leicheinstein Banks,provided by them…India could use these monies prodcutively
Thanks again for your response
Cheers