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The Indian money parked in Swiss banks tripled in 2024 to 3.5 billion Swiss francs (nearly Rs 37,600 crore) on the back of a huge jump in funds held through local branches and other financial institutions, annual data released by Switzerland's central bank showed on Thursday. However, the money in the customer accounts of Indian clients rose by only 11 per cent in the year to 346 million Swiss francs (nearly Rs 3,675 crore) and accounted for just about one-tenth of overall funds. 

According to news agency PTI, the sharp increase in the overall funds follows a 70 per percent decline in the funds parked by Indian individuals and firms in Swiss banks, including through local branches and other financial institutions, in 2023 to a four-year low of 1.04 billion Swiss francs. This is the highest since 2021, when the total Indian money in the Swiss bank had hit a 14-year high of CHF 3.83 billion. 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 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 3,545.54 million, described by the SNB as 'total liabilities' of Swiss banks or 'amounts due to' their Indian clients at the end of 2023, included CHF 346 million in customer deposits (up from CHF 310 million at 2023-end), CHF 3.02 billion held via other banks (up from CHF 427 million), CHF 41 million (up from CHF 10 million) through fiduciaries or trusts, and CHF 135 million as 'other amounts' due to customers in form of bonds, securities and various other financial instruments (down from CHF 293 million).

In 2006, the total money 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 and 2023, reports news agency PTI quoting SNB data.

According to the data, 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. It 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 Settlement (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 nearly 6 per cent during 2024 in such funds to USD 74.8 million (nearly Rs 650 crore). It had dropped by 25 per cent in 2023, by 18 per cent in 2022 and by over 8 per cent in 2021, after rising by nearly 39 per cent in 2020. 

This figure takes into account the deposits as well as the loans of Indian non-bank clients of Swiss-domiciled banks and had shown an increase of 7 per cent in 2019, after declining by 11 per cent in 2018 and by 44 per cent in 2017. It peaked at over USD 2.3 billion (over Rs 9,000 crore) at the end of 2007. 

(With inputs from PTI.)