Swiss banks no longer have Swiss confidentiality?

Dhaka – The Swiss National Bank launched a series of annual reports titled ‘Banks in Switzerland 2016’ on Thursday revealing that deposits by Bangladeshis in Switzerland’s different banks rose rose by about 20 percent year-on-year in 2016.Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Friday said the government will not spare if any political leader’s involvement in siphoning off money is found, no matter which party he or she belongs to.
“There’s no political link with the deposition of money in Swiss banks. Our position will be harsher if any political leader’s involvement in it is found. We won’t compromise with the money launderers,” he said.
Quader came up with the remarks at a press conference at the party president Sheikh Hasina’s political office at Dhamondi in the city after a secretary-level meeting of the party.
Earlier BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged that the deposits by Bangladeshis in Switzerland’s different banks marked a sharp rise as the ‘ruling party’ men are siphoning off their ill-gotten money there.
Refuting Rizvi’s allegation, Quader said they still did not get any information that any Awami League leaders deposited money in Swiss banks. “We’re yet to get any allegation that any of our leaders siphoned off money. If we find any specific allegation against any one, we’ll take both administrative and organisational actions.”
He said there are allegations of laundering money against BNP leaders, including its senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman and his late brother Arafat Rahman Koko.
Asked whether the government will take any steps to identify those siphoned off money, the AL leader said they will do everything necessary maintaining transparency in this regard. “The Bangladesh Bank will look into the matter.”   On Thursday, Zurich-based SNB published its annual report titled ‘Banks in Switzerland 2016’.
According to the report, deposits by Bangladeshis in Switzerland’s banks rose by about 20 percent year-on-year in 2016 to 661.96 million Swiss francs or Tk 55.86 billion.  – GrreenWatch Dhaka desk with inputs from UNB