France says 16,000 declare hidden bank accounts

FranceFrance said Wednesday that nearly 16,000 people had declared funds hidden abroad after Switzerland ended its vaunted banking secrecy, reports GlobalPost.

Budget Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the government was on track to collect 230 million euros ($316 million) from only 2,621 of the cases.

He told the finance committee of the lower house National Assembly that 80 percent of the newly declared accounts were from Switzerland, which has curtailed its banking secrecy traditions under international pressure.

Read more of this AFP report published by GlobalPost.