04-05-2009, 10:12 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Advani asks PM to release details of tax havens visited by his ministers</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | Aurangabad
Senior BJP leader L K Advani on Sunday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to release the details of foreign destinations particularly Switzerland and countries which are known tax havens where his ministerial colleagues have visited during the UPA regime.
Advani told reporters that the UPA Government must respond to his charges of huge sums of black money being parked by Indian nationals in Swiss banks and tax havens around the world and and how it planned to bring back the "sovereign wealth".
Noting that statement of the leaders of the G-20 summit that they would take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions including tax havens, Advani said, "What is surprising is that the prime minister did not mention this point in his opening written statement to the Press on the conslusion of the summit."
In his lengthy remarks at the official dinner hosted by Britain' s Prime Minister Gordon Brown on April 1 on the eve of the G-20 summit, Dr Singh alluded to this matter in a "casual" one-sentence reference that said, "We should also endorse sharing information and bringing tax havens and non- cooperating jurisdictions under closer scrutiny."
Advani alleged that the prime minister failed to raise concerns over the huge amounts of sovereign wealth deposited in secret bank accounts abroad. Singh also chose not to express the Indian Government's resolve to bring the monies back through international cooperation.
The BJP leader said other members of the G-20 nations were "far more vociferous" than India in saying that the era of banking secrecy is over and in even demanding sanctions against tax havens.
"It was evident from the communique released after the (G20) Summit," Advani said, adding that OECD, a group of developed countries officially estimated that about USD 11 trillion was parked in tax havens.
It also released the "blacklist" of non-cooperative nations, and specifically mentioned Switzerland among them, Advani said.
"If developed countries in OECD have taken the issue of Swiss bank accounts so seriously, why does not a developing country like India show similar seriousness?
"Is it the claim of the UPA Government that no corruption and crime money from India is deposited in Swiss banks and other tax havens or it is finding it uncomfortable to prise open the veil of secrecy of these tax havens," Advani said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
pioneer.com
PTI | Aurangabad
Senior BJP leader L K Advani on Sunday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to release the details of foreign destinations particularly Switzerland and countries which are known tax havens where his ministerial colleagues have visited during the UPA regime.
Advani told reporters that the UPA Government must respond to his charges of huge sums of black money being parked by Indian nationals in Swiss banks and tax havens around the world and and how it planned to bring back the "sovereign wealth".
Noting that statement of the leaders of the G-20 summit that they would take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions including tax havens, Advani said, "What is surprising is that the prime minister did not mention this point in his opening written statement to the Press on the conslusion of the summit."
In his lengthy remarks at the official dinner hosted by Britain' s Prime Minister Gordon Brown on April 1 on the eve of the G-20 summit, Dr Singh alluded to this matter in a "casual" one-sentence reference that said, "We should also endorse sharing information and bringing tax havens and non- cooperating jurisdictions under closer scrutiny."
Advani alleged that the prime minister failed to raise concerns over the huge amounts of sovereign wealth deposited in secret bank accounts abroad. Singh also chose not to express the Indian Government's resolve to bring the monies back through international cooperation.
The BJP leader said other members of the G-20 nations were "far more vociferous" than India in saying that the era of banking secrecy is over and in even demanding sanctions against tax havens.
"It was evident from the communique released after the (G20) Summit," Advani said, adding that OECD, a group of developed countries officially estimated that about USD 11 trillion was parked in tax havens.
It also released the "blacklist" of non-cooperative nations, and specifically mentioned Switzerland among them, Advani said.
"If developed countries in OECD have taken the issue of Swiss bank accounts so seriously, why does not a developing country like India show similar seriousness?
"Is it the claim of the UPA Government that no corruption and crime money from India is deposited in Swiss banks and other tax havens or it is finding it uncomfortable to prise open the veil of secrecy of these tax havens," Advani said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->