India and Switzerland are working ‘very closely’ on sharing of information related to tax matters on suspected illicit money cases, a top Swiss official said on Thursday.
Swiss Ambassador to India linus von Castelmur also said automatic exchange of tax information between India and Switzerland is expected to happen ‘rather soon’.
“Switzerland and India are working very closely (on information exchange on tax matters). We have received requests for exchange for information from Indian authorities,” he told reporters here. In recent months, Switzerland has disclosed names of more than a dozen Indians about whom information has been sought by the Indian Government amid suspicion that their accounts in Swiss banks were being used for stashing illicit money.
Swiss banks, known for their banking secrecy practices, have come under global pressure as countries, including India, are ramping up efforts to crack down on the black money menace. According to Castelmur, Swiss Government had given information to India with regard to the HSBC case.