Other risk-wary banks are, however, have turned cautious about dealing with their Indian clients in the wake of a growing scrutiny of such accounts, as a huge public outcry has made even genuine Swiss bank accounts look like suspicious.
A number of Swiss banks, including three with significant global presence, have begun telling their Indian clients to sign undertakings that are aimed at ‘derisking' the banking institutions from potential risks arising out of regulatory actions against the bank customers by foreign governments.
Some banks are also telling their clients to close their accounts if they are not ready to take such risks, or if they have apprehensions about such accounts not being compliant to regulatory requirements in their home countries.
Through these ‘derisking' undertakings, the customer agrees to take responsibility for any possible regulatory or administrative compliance with international norms.
At the same time, the bankers are also lobbying with the Swiss government to ensure that any information would be shared with their Indian counterpart about accounts held in Swiss banks only after necessary provisions are made to safeguard the interest of the concerned banking institution.
Following a high-level delegation visit from India, Switzerland last month agreed to cooperate on matters related to verification of genuineness of accounts and reply to requests for banking account details in a time-bound manner, and also to initiate a process to include India among the countries eligible for ‘automatic exchange of information'.
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