Black Money List: Yash Birla Among Seven Indian Names Made Public For Swiss Bank Accounts

By siliconindia | Thursday, 28 May 2015, 10:23 Hrs

“Switzerland has decided to follow international standards, including those framed by OECD, in sharing information and providing assistance to foreign countries probing such cases, but we have to ask our Parliament to make changes in our laws,” he said.

Indian Parliament has recently passed a new black money law under which those found to be stashing illicit funds in foreign locations, including Swiss banks, would face strict penal action, including up to ten years in jail and a penalty of 90 per cent of funds in addition to 30 per cent tax levy.

However, a one-time ‘compliance window’ will be provided before the law comes into force and this would let the persons with foreign assets to come clean by payment of 30 per cent tax and 30 per cent penalty.Officials said that some names have been made public through the gazette notifications in the past also, but those were of the persons that banks were unable to locate.

Also, the numbers have gone up in a big way because of a quantum leap in the number of requests being received by the Swiss tax department from the foreign governments for mutual assistance procedure.

Besides, a new law has done away with the mandatory requirement of a bank customer being informed first before any sharing of information about them by the Swiss authorities.

The officials also said that the main purpose of the names being published in the gazette is providing the concerned persons an opportunity to explore legal remedies.

The names being made public in this manner could include some big names, as those whose names have been published in the latest gazette includes Francisco Jose Ortiz von Bismarck. As per German media reports, he is a descendant of the first Chancellor of German empire Otto von Bismarck.

Source: PTI