Giving account details to US – Ok… no to India

US asks UBS – the Swiss bank – for the details of the accounts of some people.  It gets it.  Immediately, Switzerland officials come back to tell India that don’t come fishing for names with us.

“Swiss law and even OECD’s Model Tax Convention do not permit fishing expeditions, in other words, the indiscriminate trawling through bank accounts in the hope of finding something interesting.

“This means that India cannot simply throw its telephone book at Switzerland and ask if any of these people have a bank account here,” a top official at Swiss Bankers Association told PTI from Basel.

Interesting don’t you think?  One country asks for names of criminals – it gets it.  Another is lectured on procedures.  That’s the hyprocrisy of Switzerland.

Reference Links:

1. Don’t come fishing for account details: Swiss banks to India