Swiss banks known for maintaining stringent privacy laws for their customers across the world have assured the Indian authorities that they are ready provide any information on any customers to check money laundering, terror financing and tax evasion.
”We do respond to the queries of the governments all over the world to provide information on various kinds of criminal finance. We have certain procedure which a government of a country needs to follow to receive any information on the customers of the Swiss banks. We have dealt with the Indian government authorities on a similar footing,?? said Pierre G Mirabaud, chairman, Swiss Bankers Association.
However, he refused the comment on the development involving Swiss major UBS whose branch licence approval has been withheld by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for allegedly not cooperating with the Indian authorities to probe an money laundering instance by an Indian national.
”I wouldn?t comment on the individual bank,?? he said adding that Swiss banking is 99.99% safe and doesn?t allow shady financing deals.
Mirabaud is visiting the country along with a team of bankers to meet the various financial authorities in Mumbai and Delhi to lobby for easy government regulations facilitating higher Swiss investment Indian capital markets and entry of Swiss banks into the country.
”We want more liberalisation in banking and investment norms to allow more banking players and higher inflow investment by Swiss-based institutional investors and hedge funds in capital market. Indian capital market is any more an emerging market but can treated like a developed market. In Asia, after Hong Kong and Singapore we are interested in India,?? said Mirabaud.