High profile global leaks of confidential information, such as the Panama Papers, has seen Indian offshore wealth gradually shift towards the financial hubs of Asia.
Offshore wealth held by Indians in tax friendly jurisdictions has surged almost 90 percent since 2007 to $62.9 billion in 2015. That figure represented about 3.1 percent of the country's GDP in 2015, the latest year for which data is available.
Also, contrary to popular belief, Switzerland is no longer the favored destination. According to a recent report in the «Times of India» more than 53 percent of this Indian wealth is now held closer to home in Asian centers such as Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia. Swiss banks managed 31 percent of Indian wealth, down from about 58 percent in 2007.
New Homes for Black Money in Asia
This trend has emerged from analysis of data released for the first time by the Basel-based Bank of International Settlements (BIS) on bilateral foreign holdings. BIS, which is the nodal data clearing house for all international financial transactions, did not disclose the country of origin of the data until last year.
The new estimates for India show that the struggle against hoarding of black money in foreign banks is not making much headway. All that seems to be happening is that as Switzerland has become more transparent, and leaks like the Panama Papers have exposed other tax havens, the outward flow has shifted to new pastures like Hong Kong and Singapore.
