Swiss agrees to provide details of black money: Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said Switzerland has agreed to share information on Indians having illicit money in Swiss banks on independent evidence provided in each case to the Alpine nation.

Besides, the Swiss government would "confirm the genuineness or otherwise" details of foreign accounts of Indian citizens procured by intelligence agencies, Jaitley said.

Talking to reporters here, the Finance Minister said Switzerland has agreed to share information related to HSBC and Liechestein lists, provided there is independent evidence collected by Indian authorities.
"The Government of India is taking all necessary steps to access tax-related information from foreign governments...

Black money stashed abroad will be brought back," he said.

Switzerland has agreed to assist Indian authorities on priority basis and provide requested banking information in a time-bound manner following a meeting of high-level officials of both the countries earlier this week.

Earlier, the Swiss government had refused to share information on names mentioned in these lists saying that they were stolen data.

According to Jaitley, the lists were procured from other countries through proper channels.

The Finance Minister also said that government will make public the names of people who have illicit wealth in offshore accounts once formal charges are framed.

"We have no difficulty in making the names public," Jaitley said, adding that it was constrained in making the disclosures due to a double taxation pact signed by the then Congress government with Germany in 1995.

Further, India and Switzerland have agreed to discuss an agreement for automatic exchange of tax information.