Indian Black money stacked in foreign banks is a serious issue of concern and much of it can be brought back. But unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a political will to do so.
If we go by the startling disclosures by Swiss Bank Association Report, 2006, nearly $1.45 trillion is stashed away in Swiss banks alone, which is equivalent to nearly Rs.65.52 lakh crore, almost thrice the size of Indian economy. What is more disquieting is that Indian black money constitutes 67 percent of the total black money deposits in the Bank.
Recently there was an email message being circulated on the internet which said if ‘Black Money Deposits’ were an Olympian event, Indians would have surely won gold medal followed by the Russians at $ 470 billion, Britons at $ 390 billion, Ukrainians at $ 100 billion and Chinese at $ 96 billion.
The amount is reportedly parked by the rich and powerful Indian nationals illegally in Swiss banks is more than ten times the foreign debt of our country. These rich and powerful Indians may well be scandalous politicians, bureaucrats, unscrupulous businessmen, hawala operators, drug cartels, terrorists and criminals.
Now one of the most intriguing questions is whether we can bring the stolen assets back to our country and utilize the same for much needed development purposes? The answer to this in my opinion is positive. It will largely depend on the political will of the top political brass and a greater role by media in creating awareness and sensitivity of this serous issue among masses. Recently, due to international pressure especially due to ‘post 9/11 scenario, the Swiss Government agreed to disclose the names of the account holders selectively on the request of the respective Governments. If we go by the newspaper reports, the German Government had even offered to disclose the names of the Indian Account holders, but the Government allegedly showed no interest in the matter.
Now the recovery of India’s stolen assets is perhaps the biggest post independence challenge for our country. This shall require a public movement. In a situation when the India’s top political elite is largely caught in the cobweb of corruption, nepotism, caste politics and all kinds of other vices. If the United States can make it possible, why not India? UBS, the world's largest banker to the rich, agreed last week to pay a $780 million fine and disclose the identity of about 300 of its U.S. clients to avert criminal charges it was facing under the U.S. investigation. This is perhaps the best precedent that India can follow in the national interest. The UBS settlement was backed by the Swiss government, but it clearly shows that Switzerland’s famous bank secrecy laws have cracks in it, which the United States is exploiting to her advantage. this may be very smartly exploited to bring the Indian buck back , not only this, UBS is still facing a civil case in which U.S. authorities are seeking access to the names of another 52,000 clients. India needs to start her innings of recovery of the stolen assets and punish the pirates according to the laws of the land.
A host of countries have already expressed their concern over losing tax revenue because of tax havens such as Switzerland, which alone manages nearly one third of an estimated $7 trillion of global offshore wealth. Why is it that the Indian political and bureaucratic elite is not being proactive as other countries like UK and USA are? Let this money be brought back to where it belongs. The silence of the political and the bureaucratic elite about this most significant issue raise many eyebrows. It is learnt that our country has, so far, not made any request to the Swiss, German or concerned authorities of other countries for providing the details of Indian nationals who reportedly have parked Black money in Liechtenstein's LTG Bank although United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Italy among others have already seized this opportunity and made a formal request seeking data on their nationals involved in money laundering. It is also learnt that India is one of the few countries which have signed the UN Convention against Corruption but not ratified the same and the Chief Vigilance Commissioner has also urged the Government to ratify the same as Article 51 of the said Convention would be of immense help in India's efforts towards recovery of its stolen assets. It will be in our national interest that India should ratify the UN Convention against Corruption and also make a formal request to Switzerland, Germany and all other tax havens where stolen Indian assets have been deposited for providing immediate data relating to all Indian nationals involved in money laundering along with complete details of their bank accounts in which money is coming from India, or is transferred to any other country in violation of the respective Indian laws and respective Rules and Guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India and all other relevant legislations. Another measure required to deal with the ‘black money’ menace may be to immediately make hawala transactions punishable under criminal offences head and make it a part of anti- money laundering legislation.
If we go by the startling disclosures by Swiss Bank Association Report, 2006, nearly $1.45 trillion is stashed away in Swiss banks alone, which is equivalent to nearly Rs.65.52 lakh crore, almost thrice the size of Indian economy. What is more disquieting is that Indian black money constitutes 67 percent of the total black money deposits in the Bank.
Recently there was an email message being circulated on the internet which said if ‘Black Money Deposits’ were an Olympian event, Indians would have surely won gold medal followed by the Russians at $ 470 billion, Britons at $ 390 billion, Ukrainians at $ 100 billion and Chinese at $ 96 billion.
The amount is reportedly parked by the rich and powerful Indian nationals illegally in Swiss banks is more than ten times the foreign debt of our country. These rich and powerful Indians may well be scandalous politicians, bureaucrats, unscrupulous businessmen, hawala operators, drug cartels, terrorists and criminals.
Now one of the most intriguing questions is whether we can bring the stolen assets back to our country and utilize the same for much needed development purposes? The answer to this in my opinion is positive. It will largely depend on the political will of the top political brass and a greater role by media in creating awareness and sensitivity of this serous issue among masses. Recently, due to international pressure especially due to ‘post 9/11 scenario, the Swiss Government agreed to disclose the names of the account holders selectively on the request of the respective Governments. If we go by the newspaper reports, the German Government had even offered to disclose the names of the Indian Account holders, but the Government allegedly showed no interest in the matter.
Now the recovery of India’s stolen assets is perhaps the biggest post independence challenge for our country. This shall require a public movement. In a situation when the India’s top political elite is largely caught in the cobweb of corruption, nepotism, caste politics and all kinds of other vices. If the United States can make it possible, why not India? UBS, the world's largest banker to the rich, agreed last week to pay a $780 million fine and disclose the identity of about 300 of its U.S. clients to avert criminal charges it was facing under the U.S. investigation. This is perhaps the best precedent that India can follow in the national interest. The UBS settlement was backed by the Swiss government, but it clearly shows that Switzerland’s famous bank secrecy laws have cracks in it, which the United States is exploiting to her advantage. this may be very smartly exploited to bring the Indian buck back , not only this, UBS is still facing a civil case in which U.S. authorities are seeking access to the names of another 52,000 clients. India needs to start her innings of recovery of the stolen assets and punish the pirates according to the laws of the land.
A host of countries have already expressed their concern over losing tax revenue because of tax havens such as Switzerland, which alone manages nearly one third of an estimated $7 trillion of global offshore wealth. Why is it that the Indian political and bureaucratic elite is not being proactive as other countries like UK and USA are? Let this money be brought back to where it belongs. The silence of the political and the bureaucratic elite about this most significant issue raise many eyebrows. It is learnt that our country has, so far, not made any request to the Swiss, German or concerned authorities of other countries for providing the details of Indian nationals who reportedly have parked Black money in Liechtenstein's LTG Bank although United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Italy among others have already seized this opportunity and made a formal request seeking data on their nationals involved in money laundering. It is also learnt that India is one of the few countries which have signed the UN Convention against Corruption but not ratified the same and the Chief Vigilance Commissioner has also urged the Government to ratify the same as Article 51 of the said Convention would be of immense help in India's efforts towards recovery of its stolen assets. It will be in our national interest that India should ratify the UN Convention against Corruption and also make a formal request to Switzerland, Germany and all other tax havens where stolen Indian assets have been deposited for providing immediate data relating to all Indian nationals involved in money laundering along with complete details of their bank accounts in which money is coming from India, or is transferred to any other country in violation of the respective Indian laws and respective Rules and Guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India and all other relevant legislations. Another measure required to deal with the ‘black money’ menace may be to immediately make hawala transactions punishable under criminal offences head and make it a part of anti- money laundering legislation.
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