Top court forms committee to suggest guidelines for bringing foreign money in Pakistan

Swiss officials to provide information of Pakistani citizens with bank accounts in Switzerland in December 2018

ISLAMABAD: The top court has formed a committee consisting Governor of the State Bank, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman and secretary finance to suggest guidelines for bringing money in from foreign accounts in view of suo motu notice order.

The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar gave one week to the committee to work on the process.



Governor of the State Bank, Tariq Bajwa told the bench that Pakistan has signed a treaty with the Swiss government to share information of Pakistani citizens who opened the bank accounts there. Swiss authorities will share information in this regard in December 2018.

Likewise, the government of United Arab Emirates (UAE) also started providing information about Pakistanis who have properties abroad.

The CJP said that they do not want to create panic as the departments can use multiple ways to bring money in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the bench was told that out of 444 people whose names were revealed in the Panamagate papers, 78 people have yet to traced out. The FBR also issued notices to 293 individuals.



The FBR Chairman also informed that Rs6.6 billion has been recovered from two individuals. The bench has also sought details of vehicles used by FBR officials. They have also decided to issue notice to ten individuals who did not show the exact worth of their properties which are situated abroad.

The court also asked FBR whether they asked how they got these properties in abroad in the first place.