US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew announced at a press conference during the G20 summit in Sydney that the United States and Australia had completed a FATCA (US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) agreement “in substance, and we plan to sign it very soon”.
Mr Lew said he was “pleased that the G20 is expected to endorse the OECD’s common reporting standard this year, the same year that FATCA, which set the international standard, is implemented in the United States”. He said automatic exchange of information has quickly become the new global standard, and he said he believed the G20 should continue to provide its full support and encourage all nations to adopt the standard.
Source: Press conference with Australian Treasurer and US Secretary of the Treasury, 22 February 2014
[LTN 36, 24/2/14]