Swiss banks' love for Indian clients no secret, woo back depositors who withdrew funds on fear of action
May 27, 2010 MUMBAI: The famously secretive Swiss private banks are trying to persuade Indians to bring back the money they have pulled out from their numbered accounts in these banks. In the last one year, more than a hundred Indians with secret accounts have shifted money from Switzerland to banks in Dubai Free Trade Zone and Singapore amid fears of regulatory and government action. “The Swiss banks are now reaching out to these clients to get back the funds they have lost. There’s no estimate of how much money has moved out, but it could be substantial in absolute terms,” said a senior Mumbai-based professional dealing in tax and cross-border transactions. And interestingly, some of the account holders have moved back money to Swiss banks because of their long relationship with these private wealth managers. “But there’s a difference. The money that’s going back may not be parked in a numbered account. Instead, it could be a corporate deposit,” said a foreign exchange regul