South Asians' money in Swiss banks has risen quite markedly, despite a global clampdown against the famed secrecy of wall of Switzerland banking system, agencies reported on Friday.
The funds held by Indians alone with banks in Switzerland rose by over 40 per cent to over 2.0 billion Swiss francs (Indian rupees 140 billion) during 2013, from about 1.42 billion Swiss francs at the end of previous year, as per the latest data released on Thursday by Switzerland's central banking authority, Swiss National Bank (SNB), according to PTI. A news item by primenews.com.bd reports: Bangladesh's money in Swiss banks has risen to over Tk 30 billion (3000cr).
The funds held by Bangladeshi with banks in Switzerland rose by over 62 per cent during 2013, from about 22.89 million Swiss francs at the end of previous year, as per the latest data released by Switzerland's central banking authority, SNB.
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Saleh Uddin Ahmed said the existing anti money laundering law needs to be implemented strictly, according to the on-line news agency. "It is not easy task to launder money as Bangladesh bank has already set up Financial Intelligent Unit. Now we need to set one or two examples," he said.
According to Saleh Uddin, for international pressure, Swiss banks are not hiding information like before.
The government of Bangladesh may strike a deal with the Swiss government for exchanging information.
Saleh Uddin, however, said all money in Swiss banks is not laundered ones. Expatriate Bangladeshis are also depositing money there.
In contrast to the situation involving the three South Asian countries, the money held in Swiss banks by their foreign clients from across the world continued to decline and stood at a record low of 1.32 trillion Swiss francs (about USD 1.56 trillion) at the end of 2013.
The latest data from Zurich-based SNB comes at a time when Switzerland is facing growing pressure from many countries to share foreign client details, while its own lawmakers are resisting such measures.
The Finance Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar had earlier told the country's National Assembly that at least $200 billion of 'Pakistani money' was stashed away in Swiss banks, another report said.
He then said the situation called for immediate corrective action. To put the enormity of this find into perspective, Pakistan's total external debt stands at $150 billion and its gross domestic product (GDP) is said to be around $300 billion. The country can, theoretically, pay off all its debt with the money in Swiss banks and still have nearly a quarter of it left over.
There are a total of 283 banks in Switzerland, down from nearly 300 at the beginning of 2013. This include two banks (UBS and Credit Suisse) classified as big banks, while there are 93 foreign-controlled banks operating in the country. A total of close to 0.125 million (1.25 lakh) staff work at these banks.
According to the SNB data, funds held by the US entities in Swiss banks also rose during 2013 -- from 189 billion Swiss francs to 193 billion Swiss francs -- despite a major crackdown by the American authorities against the Swiss banks.
However, a number of countries saw their exposure to Swiss banks decline during the year, resulting in the overall funds held by foreign clients in Switzerland's banking institutions decline to 1.32 trillion Swiss francs, from 1.39 trillion Swiss francs at the end of 2012.
