ISLAMABAD - Pakistan stands at No 72 while India has moved up to 73rd place in terms of money parked by its citizens and companies with Swiss banks, while the UK remains on the top.
Pakistan is now placed one place higher than India at 72nd position, down one slot, after 21% dips in funds from that country in Swiss banks during 2017.
India had slipped to 88th place with a 44% plunge in such funds during 2016, but the latest data from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) shows an i*ncrease of over 50% link>*during 2017 to CHF 1.01 billion (about Rs 7,000 crore).
The funds, described by SNB as 'liabilities' of Swiss banks or 'amounts due to' their clients, are official figures disclosed by Swiss authorities and do not indicate to the exact quantum of the much-debated alleged black money held in famed safe havens of Switzerland. The official figures, disclosed annually by Switzerland's central bank, also do not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries.
It has been often alleged that Indians and other nationals seeking to stash their illicit wealth abroad use multiple layers of various jurisdictions, including tax havens, to shift the money in Swiss banks. Also, with Switzerland putting in place an automatic information exchange framework with India and various other countries, the famed secrecy walls of Swiss banks are said to have crumbled. India will start getting this automatic data from next year, while it has already been getting information on accounts where proof of illicit funds can be furnished.