Economy, Market Watch

DRI probes bank investors’ income sources

Published by Octron on July 2, 2009

Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) has started collecting financial information on shareholders who have equity ownership worth over five million rupees in any financial institutions established in Nepal after fiscal year 2003/04, to check their sources of income.

An official at the Finance Ministry told Republica that the purpose of the investigation is to ascertain whether or not investments made by shareholders are from taxed legal sources. Basically, the inquiry is to ensure that there is no black money invested in Nepal´s financial institutions, said the official under condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the press.

“We have already gathered vital information on some 100 investors in a dozen financial institutions and we are expecting details about the remaining shareholders of financial institutions established with approval from Nepal Rastra Bank within the current fiscal year,” he further said.

If things go as planned, they will conclude the entire investigation by the first quarter of next fiscal year, he said and added that DRI collected the financial information on major investors in banks and financial institutions through the central bank.

DRI began the investigation after it received instructions from the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the apex anti-graft watchdog, to look into the sources of income of those who own equity shares worth over Rs 5 million in banks and financial institutions in Nepal.

Source: Republica

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