Swiss Bank Account

We call it by many names. Gh’aban, ghotala… Indians are well aware of scams by politicians, bureaucrats and business houses. Scams are not only prevalent in our country but also traced in Japan, US and other advanced countries. We are also aware about the destinations of this moola. Swiss banks are the place where scams-ters put their hard earned money (with blood of the poor victims). These banks provide private banking services to ultra-rich clients. Complete secrecy is maintained. No government or any party on this earth can get accounts’ information from these wealth managers.

No one has idea about the number of netas, babus and banias who hold secret accounts in the banks of Switzerland and no clue about the money locked in. Recently the tax authorities in US have encountered tax-evasion and investment of laundered money in UBS AG and Credit Suisse. Switzerland’s bank secrecy laws have come under increasing scrutiny in many countries. This issue has even caught the limelight in the summit of G-20 countries. Lichtenstein and Monaco are other tax havens.

The International Money Laundering Information Network states, “Serious efforts have been, and continue to be, made to create greater transparency in financial matters, but the offshore financial world remains for a large part a ‘Bermuda triangle’ for financial investigations.”

The supporters of bank-secrecy say that this is a legal contract between two parties for ‘not to reveal’ anything. But those against this concept are of the view that ‘funds being misused to commit terrorism, money laundering, tax evasion, or other misconduct.’ UBS has turned over the names of nearly 300 clients who owned the Swiss accounts. International news agency AFP is reporting that UBS rejected a new U.S. government lawsuit filed late last week asking that the bank disclose the identities of some 52,000 U.S. customers who allegedly evaded taxes. The U.S. government estimates approximately $14.8 billion is hidden in the Swiss accounts.

Any way this is a matter of shame that when millions of people are losing their jobs due to economic crisis, some richest of the rich are not fulfilling their civil and legal responsibilities of paying taxes. Thanks to “bank secrecy” poor are not getting loaf of bread. Few banks have suggested their executives not to travel abroad to avoid arrests by the authorities of host countries. A fresh report reveals that ‘Switzerland agreed to loosen bank secrecy for foreign clients.’ The wheel has started rolling in the right direction. We can now hope for a transparent banking system. Furthermore this will only create more “white money” and reduce some of the “black money”.

Come on, Nationalize!

The nationalization debate has started. The governments in US and UK are pumping rescue funds or bailout money in the financial giants for almost a year now. AIG, Citi, BofA, RBS etc. have been provided with billions of dollars from the taxpayers’ money. Still the mount of capitalism is shy of using the term “nationalization”. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and FDIC chief Sheila Bair call this concept a non-sense.

Nationalization, at this stage, is almost necessitated in order to prevent further collapse of the financial institutions. Depository institutions are the life-blood of a nation’s trade and well-being, and cannot be allowed to play roulette with the citizens’ money. Nouriel Roubini, a well-respected economist has been pushing the nationalization idea for several weeks now. Roubini proposes that the government nationalize all the banks that are deemed insolvent as per the Treasury’s ‘stress-test’, and quickly separate the acquired assets into good and bad for easy disposal.


Indira Gandhi’s government nationalized all 14 of India’s largest banks in one fell swoop in 1969. In a second act, the government nationalized the six next largest banks back in 1980. Today, out of the 88 commercial banks in India, 27 (the largest, including State Bank) have the Indian Government as the largest shareholder. To put in perspective, 75% of the country’s banking assets are in the hands of our trusted government. Also to note is that the Reserve Bank of India, the counterpart of the US Fed is completely nationalized, unlike the Fed which is a quasi-autonomous entity with sometimes squeamish objectives.

Free markets only work when they can self-regulate effectively, which is somewhat ironical given that they only exist because of individuals’ greed. Nationalization is a need of the hour. Be rational in taking decisions and making comments.

No Bonus

The Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had once remarked about sky high packages of CEOs. This time executive bonuses have hit the limelight in US. There was a time when a middle level manager would get a joining bonus almost equal his hefty annual salary. The worth of a person was measured by his CTC. As the economy entered into recession, executives are saying ‘no bonus’ “thanks God my job is safe.”

Securities industry in US granted its employees $18.4 billion in bonuses – a revelation that President Barack Obama characterized as “shameful.” Surely when the sector and economy is bleeding, people are losing their jobs and the future is dark it is a shame to declare bonus. In England a lavish party was thrown to the employees of Royal Bank of Scotland even after bailout money was given to company by the Government.

In my company there is no bonus for H2. Performance Appraisal will take place. The salary increments based on appraisal. May God it takes place! The bad news are circulated everyday. Many companies have announced freezing of annual increments. Experienced, times are tough. Hit the bears eye. Fresher, good luck!

The Book Says

He likes the literary value of this book. A book he purchased for Rs. 65 in a Book Fair. He enjoys the couplets and tries to derive meaning out of them. They are full of meanings, like the 3D figures wrapped in a single stanza.

He puts this treasure trove on one side of his pillow and goes into deep sleep. When he wakes up the book is not there. What’s it? He murmurs. He comes out in the courtyard. The book is in her hands. She is immersed in poetry. Now he is with lots of thought and without words.

She is polite still rustic, she is naive still confident. She suddenly finds a piece of paper inside the book. Her lips read:

sukoot-e-sham judai hua bahana mujhe
kisi ki yaad ne sikhla diya tarana mujhe

And asks, “Whose remembrance has taught you the anthem”? He answers, “This is the hymn of love, and my dear your memory has taught me this sacred song”. But he doesn’t utter a single word.