Participating in a debate on black money in Parliament, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that despite making sincere efforts, he could neither locate the Swiss Bankers’ Association nor was able to find the work done by the organisation

However, when FE contacted the Swiss government, the task proved easier and the organisation was easily located. ?The Swiss Bankers? Association (SBA) is a leading professional organisation of the Swiss financial centre. The headquarters is in Basel, Switzerland,? Swiss federal tax administration spokesman Beat Furrer said in an e-mailed query to FE.

During the debate on black money adjournment motion in winter session, Mukherjee had attacked media for highlighting the name of Swiss Bankers’ Association, saying that after his two years of sincere efforts, he could not locate the organisation.

“When I asked through our ambassador to Switzerland, he expressed inability to identify any such organisation. But this organisation had a very prominent place in Indian media for several days together,” the finance minister had said. He was speaking on money stashed by Indians in Switzerland as per various reports, including that of Swiss Bankers’ Association.

When FE asked for a clarification from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on the issue, the spokesperson did not respond to the queries. The income tax department is looking into alleged black money stashed by Indians abroad and the government is facing intense pressure from the opposition, civil society and the Supreme Court on the issue.

Recently, India and Switzerland had renegotiated the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) for sharing banking and tax-related information. The framework would permit sharing of information by Switzerland in specific cases for the period starting April 1 last year.

According to Swiss National Bank data, the total “liabilities” of Swiss banks towards Indians were about R9,295 crore as on December 31, 2010. However, independent estimates, including one by a BJP taskforce in 2009 and another by Global Financial Integrity, had put the Indian black money stashed away in Swiss banks at hundreds of billions of dollars.

India and Switzerland in August 2010 had signed a protocol amending the DTAA and in June last year, Swiss parliament ratified the treaty. In July 2011, India received a list of some 700 bank accounts in Switzerland from the French government and investigations are under way to determine whether any of the account holders evaded taxes.