The OECD has advised that the new OECD/G20 standard on automatic exchange of information was endorsed on Wed 29.10.2014 at a meeting in Berlin by all OECD and G20 countries as well as major financial centres participating in the annual meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. A status report on committed and not committed jurisdictions will be presented to G20 leaders during their annual summit in Brisbane on 15-16 November 2014.
Some 51 jurisdictions, many represented at Ministerial level, translated their commitments into action during a massive signing of a Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement that will activate automatic exchange of information, based on the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Early adopters who signed the agreement have pledged to work towards launching their first information exchanges by September 2017. Others are expected to follow in 2018 [it is understood that Australia has committed to making its first exchange of information in 2018].
The OECD recently presented the new Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, in Tax Matters, to the G20 Finance Ministers during a meeting in Cairns in September 2014. It provides for exchange of all financial information on an annual basis, automatically. Most jurisdictions have committed to implementing this Standard on a reciprocal basis with all interested jurisdictions.
The Global Forum will establish a peer review process to ensure effective implementation of automatic exchange.
Governments also agreed to raise the bar on the standard of exchange of information upon request, by including a requirement that beneficial ownership of all legal entities be available to tax authorities and exchanged with treaty partners. [FJM Note: In Australia at the moment, neither the ATO, nor ASIC records the beneficial ownership of entities.]
[LTN 210, 30/10/14]