The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes announced today that Bahrain, Lebanon, Nauru, Panama and Vanuatu have now committed to share financial account information automatically with other countries.

With these new commitments, 101 jurisdictions around the world have committed to implement information sharing in accordance with the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). Developed by the OECD and G20 countries and endorsed by the Global Forum in 2014, the CRS calls on jurisdictions to obtain information from their financial institutions and automatically exchange that information with other jurisdictions on an annual basis.

The CRS sets out the financial account information to be exchanged, the financial institutions required to report, the different types of accounts and taxpayers covered, as well as common due diligence procedures to be followed by financial institutions. The latest commitments by Bahrain, Lebanon, Nauru, Panama and Vanuatu call for beginning such exchanges in September 2018.

“We are now seeing an unstoppable movement toward information sharing, on the basis of a single common standard developed by the OECD and endorsed by the international community,” OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said in a statement.

The Global Forum monitors the implementation of tax transparency standards to ensure the effective and timely delivery of the commitments made, the confidentiality of information exchanged, and to identify areas where support is needed. It’s also assisting developing country members to ensure that they can also receive the benefits of the ongoing global move to automatic exchange of financial account information.

Lebanon has just joined the Global Forum, bringing membership to 133 jurisdictions. The European Union fully participates in Global Forum work.

Continue the conversation at Compliance Week Europe: 7-8 November at the Crowne Plaza Brussels. Join us as we look at changes in global anti-corruption regulations, slave labour risks in your supply chain, and how to detect fraud, to name just a few topics. Learn more

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