Swiss Bank data shows decline in Indian funds
Indian money parked in Swiss banks fell by over 8 percent in 2025 to 3.25 billion Swiss franc (nearly Rs.36,793 crore) due to a fall in funds held through local branches and other financial institutions, annual data released by Switzerland’s central bank showed on Thursday. However, money in customer accounts of individual and institutional clients rose sharply by over 50 percent in the year to 524 million Swiss franc (nearly Rs.6,000 crore), though it accounted for just about 16 percent of overall funds.
The bulk of the total funds was in the form of ‘amounts due to banks’, or funds held through other banking and financial institutions, at 2.6 billion Swiss francs, despite a decline of nearly 15 percent during the year. The 2025 dip in total funds follows a sharp three-fold jump in 2024 to CHF 3.5 billion — the highest since 2021 when the total Indian money in Swiss banks had hit a 14-year-high of CHF 3.83 billion — on the back of a huge jump in funds held through local branches and other financial institutions.
These are official figures reported by banks to the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and do not indicate the quantum of the much-debated alleged black money held by Indians in Switzerland. These figures also do not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of third-country entities. The total amount of CHF 3,250.5 million, described by the SNB as ‘total liabilities’ of Swiss banks or ‘amounts due to’ their Indian clients at the end of 2025, included CHF 524 million in customer deposits, CHF 2.6 billion held via other banks, CHF 18.6 million (down 55 per cent from CHF 41 million) through fiduciaries or trusts, and CHF 105.7 million as ‘other amounts’ due to customers in form of bonds, securities and various other financial instruments (down from CHF 135 million).
The total amount stood at a record high of nearly 6.5 billion Swiss francs in 2006, after which it has been mostly on a downward path, except for a few years, including in 2011, 2013, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, as per SNB data. According to the SNB, its data for ‘total liabilities’ of Swiss banks towards Indian clients takes into account all types of funds of Indian customers at Swiss banks, including deposits from individuals, banks and enterprises. This includes data for branches of Swiss banks in India, as well as non-deposit liabilities.
On the other hand, the ‘locational banking statistics‘ of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which have been described in the past by Indian and Swiss authorities as a more reliable measure for deposits by Indian individuals in Swiss banks, showed an increase of 20 percent during 2025 in such funds to USD 89.73 million (nearly Rs 780 crore). It had risen by nearly 6 percent in 2024, after dropping by 25 percent in 2023, by 18 percent in 2022 and by over 8 per cent in 2021. It rose by nearly 39 percent in 2020. It peaked at over USD 2.3 billion (over Rs.9,000 crore) at the end of 2007.
Swiss authorities have always maintained that assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland cannot be considered as ‘black money’ and they actively support India in its fight against tax fraud and evasion. An automatic exchange of information in tax matters between Switzerland and India has been in force since 2018. Under this framework, detailed financial information on all Indian residents having accounts with Swiss financial institutions since 2018 was provided for the first time to Indian tax authorities in September 2019, and this is being followed every year.
In addition to this, Switzerland has been actively sharing details about accounts of Indians suspected to have indulged in financial wrongdoings after the submission of prima facie evidence. Such an exchange of information has taken place in hundreds of cases so far. The overall funds of foreign clients, including institutions, declined by nearly 8 percent in 2025 to CHF 1.05 trillion.
In terms of assets, Indian clients accounted for CHF 1.5 billion at the end of 2024, down nearly 6 percent from the previous year. While the UK topped the charts for foreign clients’ money in Swiss banks at CHF 192 billion, it was followed by the US (CHF 75 billion) at the second spot and France (CHF 63 billion) at the third place. These three were followed in the top 10 by the West Indies, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, UAE and the Netherlands.
India was placed at 46th place, up from 48th place at the end of 2024. Pakistan also saw a dip to CHF 257 million (from CHF 272 million), while Bangladesh witnessed a sharp increase of 43 percent to CHF 842 million. Just like in India, the issue of alleged black money in Swiss banks has been a political hot potato in the two neighbouring countries as well. Bangladesh was at 81st place, while Pakistan was at 108th.
[with PTI inputs]
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