Asia countries move to claw back undeclared wealth parked in S'pore

Singapore

SINGAPORE-BASED wealth managers, already under pressure from a global move towards tax information sharing, face a more immediate threat as Asian countries including Indonesia and India look to chase undeclared money in the low-tax city state.

A global crackdown on tax evasion launched during the 2008 financial crisis has already forced Switzerland and other European offshore hubs to surrender their prized bank secrecy.

Like those centres, Singapore has committed to automatically start sharing information with foreign tax authorities from 2018, in line with an agreement signed by more than 51 countries last year that seeks to put an end to tax evasion.

But Singapore banks face a more urgent challenge. Indonesia, Singapore's main source of wealth assets, is considering offering a tax amnesty to individuals willing to repatriate funds from abroad - targeting US$225 billion Jakarta says is parked in Singapore alone. "Indonesia accounts for 30-50 per cent of business for private banks in Singapore," a Singapore-based banker at a top gl…