Black money: Switzerland reminds India of terms for sharing bank information
Posted on: 31/Oct/2014 3:55:00 PM - No. of views : (3016)
In a fresh threat to the flow of information about Indians holding accounts in foreign banks, Switzerland on Thursday said that information exchanged with India under its tax treaty can`t be disclosed "in principle" to a court or any other body outside the proceedings of a "specific and relevant" case.
This Swiss clarification came a day after the government was ordered by the Supreme Court to hand over all the 627 names of Indian account holders in HSBC Bank, Geneva, forcing the government to opt out from the signing of an international treaty on exchange of financial information.
India`s last minute withdrawal from the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement � which provides for automatic information exchange, starting 2017 � is bound to choke the flow of vital data to tax authorities and hinder attempts to act against unaccounted funds parked in overseas accounts. India can still sign the pact. Currently, it is awaiting clarity from the court.
