The meeting saw the financial centres of Panama and the Cook Islands sign up to automatic exchange of information (AEoI) commitments, bringing the total number of jurisdictions committed to the new standard for AEoI to 96.
“With these commitments, all major financial centres are now part of the efforts to enhance international tax cooperation,” said an OECD spokesperson.
Financial information will be collected from January 1 2016 in around 50 jurisdictions, so governments are now working to alter domestic laws to facilitate this.
“The work of the Global Forum is key for Barbados and the Caribbean region,” said Donville Inniss, Barbados’ Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, and vice chair of the Global Forum Steering Group. “Barbados was proud to host the 8th Global Forum meeting which is the kick-off to a new era of automatic exchange of information and tax compliance.”
Ahead of the shift to AEoI, the meeting also brought 13 new signatories to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement.
The new members are: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bulgaria, Cook Islands, Grenada, Japan, Marshall Islands, Niue, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Saint Maarten and Samoa.
With the addition of these countries, the total number of signatories now stands at 74.
Uganda has also become the 90th jurisdiction to join the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
Grappling with transparency initiatives
To see how global transparency developments are impacting the Swiss financial centre, read our insights – brought to you by the Swiss Bankers Association.
For an overview of how the OECD’s template for AEoI – the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) – is impacting the financial services sector, read what BNY Mellon is making of the initiative.
