How To Open A Swiss Bank Account?

Last Updated: 15 Oct 2024

Back in 1713, the Great Council of Geneva had chalked out regulations preventing Swiss banks to divulge information of their customers to anyone. Since then, Swiss banks have sticked, with the guidelines and have successfully earned the reputation of being the safest place to stack the unaccounted funds. The popularity of Swiss banks may leave one wondering on the process of opening accounts in these banks. The quest is over as here is the roadmap to opening a Swiss Bank Account.

Eligibility:

An Indian, having attained the age of 18 can apply for a new account in the Swiss bank with the ceiling for the financial year. The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) permits an individual to open a Swiss account for the purpose of conducting business. At the same time, an NRI, who becomes a resident Indian later, can continue to hold and operate his international bank account without restrictions. However, one must keep in mind that the Swiss banks have full right to reject an application to open an account if it suspects that the money is sourced from illegal activities such as money laundering, corruption or terrorism.

Most secret account:

One of the unique features of Swiss Banks is that they provide high-level of secrecy by offering ‘numbered account’. Unlike a typical bank account, a transaction in a ‘numbered account’ takes place mostly by quoting account number and not name. In fact, only a few bank officials within the bank know the real holder name of the numbered account. But, the account opening process of such accounts are complex as the account holder has to be personally present at the bank at the time of opening of the account and need to give an initial deposit amount of $100,000.

Transacting from the account:

Like any other bank, Swiss banks too provide debit/credit or a cheque facility for the account opened in the bank. However, a person could solely transact through traveller’s cheques in order to keep the confidentiality of his account intact.

Account closure:

An individual is free to close the account anytime without any restrictions or any charges.