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”.
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”.
