Approaching Swiss banks

Letter September 02, 2015
As long as financial corruption is tolerated, military action can only injure this poisonous serpent, not kill it

LAHORE: It is an established fact that international terrorism and the black money trail are interlinked. As long as crime and terrorism are profitable ventures, military force alone cannot eliminate this curse, which today is the biggest threat to the national security of Pakistan. Without prevalent corruption having been patronised by all those who held power in the past, neither criminals and terrorists nor ammunition could have been so easily moved into Pakistan through our borders, airports and seashores; neither could the profits reaped by the criminal economy be so easily transferred to their foreign-based dens. As long as rampant financial corruption is tolerated, military action alone can only injure this poisonous serpent, not kill it.

Besides conflict of interest, nothing prevents our civil bureaucracy, establishment and political elite to officially take up a request with European and Swiss banks, to gain access to high net bank account holders of Pakistani origin who have not paid taxes on money deposited in these banks. According to one Indian newspaper, our neighbour India is aggressively approaching Swiss and European banks who have asked their Indian clients to disclose their accounts to the Indian tax authorities, which has given them a three-month compliance window to disclose all undeclared foreign assets or else face legal action. These foreign banks, based in London and Switzerland, are asking their Indian clients to give fresh undertakings that they are in compliance with all the laws of their home countries.

Swiss banks, perceived to be safe havens for unaccounted funds, have started asking for auditor certificates from high net worth individuals and corporate clients to vouch for a clean status of their money. Switzerland is moving to automatically exchange tax information with India and other sovereign states, following pressure mounted by new black money laws. Perhaps, Pakistan should be taking notes.

Malik Tariq Ali

KarachiPublished in The Express Tribune, September 3rd,  2015.

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