Banks call for claimants of $44m in Swiss bank accounts

The names of the Indians were released as part of a long list of over 2,600 accounts that have done few transactions over a period of 60 years.

For anyone who may have forgotten about their fortune sitting idle in a Swiss bank account, a list published Wednesday is a must read.

The four Indians are a Pierre Vachek, whose residence is mentioned as “Bombay”, Bahadur Chandra Singh from Dehradun, Dr Mohan Lal from Paris and Kishore Lall. The date of birth has also been disclosed in one case – that is for Vachek.

The online list reveals that Swiss banks now have around CHF44 million ($44.6 million) of unclaimed assets held in their vaults. Claude-Alain Margelisch, chief executive of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA), praised the development for providing better “legal certainty” for banks.

But in 1998, after the continuous pressurization from Jewish organizations and the United States government, the Swiss bank authorities agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle the allegation that it failed to inform the heirs of the account holders before draining their accounts.

The claim deadline for potential legitimate claimants is five years if the assets in question have been dormant since at least 1954. “Additionally, around 80 safe-deposit boxes are now published”, SBA said.

“This publication gives customers and their legal heirs another opportunity to assert their claims”.

“Switzerland’s Banking Ordinance as well as the guidelines of the Swiss Bankers Association demand that assets of bank clients with a total value exceeding CHF 500 have to be published after having been without contact for 10 years and dormant for another 50 years, e.g. after a total of 60 years”, the statement added.

An empty safe box is pictured in the vault of a Swiss bank in Basel January 21, 2009.

Certain accounts have no corresponding names or addresses and are identified only through an ID number found in a passbook which, in theory, should be in the possession of the account holder.