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Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information BACKGROUND INFORMATION BRIEF Updated Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information BACKGROUND INFORMATION BRIEF Updated

Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information BACKGROUND INFORMATION BRIEF Updated - PDF document

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Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information BACKGROUND INFORMATION BRIEF Updated - PPT Presentation

saint amansoecdorg Achim Pross Head of Division OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration mail achimprossoecdorg AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE O F INFORMATION Vast amounts of money are kept abroad and go untaxed to the extent that taxpayers fail to comply ID: 6040

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Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information BAC K G R O U N D IN F ORMATION BRI E F Updat e d: January 2016 F or fu r ther i nf o r m a t i on , p lease c o n ta c t: P ascal Saint - Amans , D i rec t o r , O E CD C e nt r e f or Tax P ol i c y a n d A d m i n ist r a t io n , E - m ai l : p ascal.sai n t - a m a n s@o ec d .o r g Monica Bhatia, Head of the Global Forum Secretariat, O E CD C e n t r e f or Tax P ol i c y a n d Ad m i n ist r a t io n , Email: monica.bhatia@oec d.org A c h im P r oss, H e ad of Divisio n , O E CD C e n t r e f or Tax P ol i c y a n d Ad m i n ist r a t io n , E - m ai l : a c h i m . p r oss@ o ec d .o r g 2 AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION A full overview of the work of the OECD and the Global Foru m in the area of the automatic exchange of information in tax matters, as well as a wealth of jurisdiction - specific information, can be found on the joint AEOI Portal . Vast amounts of money are kept abroad and go untaxed to the extent that taxpayers fail to comply with tax obligations in their home jurisdictions. Jurisdictions around the world, small and large, developing and developed, OECD and non - OECD, stand united in calling for further acti on to address the issues of international tax avoidance and evasion. Co - operation between tax administrations is critical in the fight against tax evasion and a key aspect of that co - operation is exchange of information. The OECD has a long history of fos tering greater tax co - operation and improving all forms of exchange of information – on request, spontaneous and automatic – and the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention provide a basis for all forms of information exchange. A major breakthrough towards more tax transparency was accomplished in 2 009 with information exchange upon request becom ing the international standard. In recent years , there has been another step cha nge in international tax transparency. On 9 April 2013 , the Finance Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK (the countries that developed the FATCA intergovernmental agreements with the United States) announced their intention to exchange FAT CA - type information amongst themselves in addition to exchanging info rmation with the United States. Following the commitment to establish automatic exchange as the new global standard made by G8 Leaders in June 2013 , the G20 Leaders at their Summit in Se ptember 2013 fully endorsed the OECD proposal for a truly global model of automatic exchange and invited the OECD working with G20 countries to present such a new single standard for automatic exchange of information in time for the G20 February 2014 meeti ng. In February 2014 , the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors endorsed the global standard for automatic exchange of tax information . Further political support for the new global standard on automatic exchange was evidenced at the OECD Minist erial Council Meeting held in Paris 6 - 7 May 2014 with the adoption of the Declaration on Automatic Exchange of Informatio n in Tax Matters . The adherents declared their determination to implement the new global standard swiftly and on a reciprocal basis, called on all financial centres to do so without delay, and highlighted the need to provide technical assistance to develo ping countries to help them benefit from the new standard. Following approval of the Standard for Automatic Exchange o f Financial Information in Tax Matters by the OECD Council on 15 July 2014 , the full Standard was endorsed by the G20 Finance Ministers at their meeting in Cairns in September 2014 , as well as by G20 Leaders at their Summit in Brisbane in November 2014 . S ee the Annex for G8 and G20 statements providing support for the work. By September 2014, nearly 50 jurisdictions had joined this group and committed to the early adoption of the standard developed by OECD, including a specific and ambitious timetable for doing so. For more information, please see: http://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/AEOI - early - adopters - statement.pdf 3 Furthermore, on 14 October 2014 the 28 Member State s of the European Union reached a political agreement on an amended Directive that will implem ent the new Standard in the EU. The political agreement was formalised through the adoption of the amended Directive by the ECOFIN Council on 9 December 2014 . Th e Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, which brings together more than 120 jurisdictions working to ensure effective implementation of the stan dards on exchange of information for tax purposes , has also endorsed the Standard. In August 2014 , it created a commitment process to enable its members to publicly commit to a timetable to implement the new Standard. This was a key step in its role in mon itoring the implementation of the Standard and promoting a level - playing - field. All Global Forum members, other than developing countries that do not house a financial centre, were asked to commit to begin automatically exchanging information in accordance with the Standard, reciprocally and with appropriate partners, by 2017 or 2018. 9 7 jurisdictions have since made that commitment, which continues to grow in number , with Kuwait being the latest countr y to commit in November 2015 . On 29 October 2014 , 5 1 jurisdictions, 38 of which were represented at ministerial level, signed the first ever multilateral competent authority agreement to automatically exchange information under the Standard, based on Article 6 of the Multilateral Convention . The significance of this event was demonstrated by the participation of 38 ministers in the signing ceremony, the largest gathering of ministers to take joint action to address tax evasion. To date , several jurisdictions joined the multilateral compete nt authority agreement thereby increasing huge ly the network of jurisdictions willing to exchange information automatically through th is multilateral route . The competent authority agreement specifies the details of what information will be exchanged and when. It is a multilateral framework agreement, with the subsequent bilateral exchanges coming into effect between those signatories that file the subsequent notifications under Section 7 of the agreement. The latest information on the list of signatories to the multilateral competent authority agreement is available here: www.oecd.org/ctp/exchange - of - tax - information/mcaa - signatories.pdf . 1 . A global standard for automatic exchange of financial account i nformation Under the St andard , ju risdictions obtain information from their financial institutions and automatically exchange that information with other jurisdictions on an annual basis. It sets out the financial account information to be exchanged, the financial institutions that need to report, the different types of accounts and taxpayers covered, as well as common due diligence procedures to be followed by financial institutions. The new Standard draws extensively on earlier work of the OECD in the area of automatic exchange of inform ation. It incorporates progress made within the European Union, as well as global anti - money laundering standards, with the intergovernmental implementation of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) having acted as a catalyst for the move toward s automatic exchange of information in a multilateral context. To prevent taxpayers from circumventing the CRS it is specifically designed with a broad scope across three dimensions: ‒ The financial information to be reported with respect to reportable acc ounts includes all types of investment income (including interest, dividends, income from certain insurance contracts and other similar types of income) but also account balances and sales proceeds from financial assets. 4 ‒ The financial institutions that ar e required to report under the CRS do not only include banks and custodians but also other financial institutions such as brokers, certain collective investment vehicles and certain insurance companies . ‒ Reportable accounts include accounts held by individ uals and entities (which includes trusts and foundations), and the standard includes a requirement to look through passive entities to report on the individuals that ultimately control these entities. The CRS also describes the due diligence procedures th at must be followed by financial institutions to identify reportable accounts . The Standard now needs to be implemented by jurisdiction. The implementation process can be summari s ed at a high level as involving the following four steps, which can be done in any order including being pursued in parallel: 1. Translat e the reporting and due diligence requirements into domestic law. 2. Select a legal basis for the exchange of information. 3. Put in place the administrative and IT infrastructure to collect and exchange information. 4. Protect confidentiality and data safeguards. Further guidance on implementation can be found in the CRS Implementation Handbook . In addition, the OECD regularly publishes answers to Frequently Asked Questions in relation to the CR S. 2 . The legal b asis Different legal bases for automatic exchange of information already exist. Whilst bilateral treaties such as those based on Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention permit such exchanges, it may be more efficient to establish au tomatic exchange relationships through a multilateral information exchange instrument. The Multilateral Convention on Mutual Admin istrative Assistance in Tax Matters , as amended in 2011, is such an instrument. It provides for all possible forms of administrative co - operation between States, contains strict rules on confidentiality and proper use, and permits automatic exchange of in formation. The Multilateral Convention is now a truly global instrument . Following the recent signatures by Israel and Niue , there are now 9 2 jurisdictions participating in the Convention, including all G20 countries ( Chart of participating jurisdictions ). Automatic exchange under the Multilateral Convention requires a separate agreement between the competent authorities of the p arties, which can be entered into by two or more parties thus allowing for a single agreement with several parties (with actual automatic exchange taking place on a bilateral basis). Such an agreement would activate and “operationalise” automatic exchange between the participating countries. It would specify the information to be exchanged and would also deal with practical issues such as the time and format of the exchange. The Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement , which is based on the Model CAA , serves that function . The Model CAA can also be used within the context of bilateral treaties. 5 3 . Role of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Info rmation for Tax Purposes In recognition of the emergence of AEOI as a new global standard that supports and enhances exchange on request, in 2013 the Global Forum established a new voluntary AEOI Group. The AEOI Group comprises Global Forum members and ob servers who wish to come together to work towards a common goal of engaging in AEOI. The AEOI Group will take forward the work that the G20 has mandated the Global Forum to do: to monitor and review the implementation of the Standard; and to help developin g countries identify their need for technical assistance and capacity building in order to participate in and benefit from AEOI. The AEOI Group will continue to liaise with, and draw on the experience of, the OECD, the World Bank Group, the G20 and others. The AEOI Group report s back to the Global Forum plenary on its activities on a regular basis and decisions continue to be made by the Global Forum. In 2014 , a t the request of the G20 Development Working Group, a Roadmap for developing country participation in the new Standard was also produced to identify the particular challenges faced by developing countries and how to overcome them. In 2015, the work of the AEOI has focussed on areas where the Global Forum can assist in the delivery of the commitments made, support developing countries and build a monitoring and review process to ensure the effective implementation of the standard. This has inclu ded: 1. Monitoring the delivery of the commitments to implement the AEOI Standard, used for reporting on progress and targeting support. 2. Supporting jurisdictions to implement the AEOI Standard, through (i) supporting and promoting multilateral international legal and administrative frameworks for AEOI, (ii) providing training and assistance for government officials impleme nting the AEOI Standard, and (iii ) providing particular support targeted at developing countries. 3. In order to facilitate decision making by the members with regard to the partners they would like to exchange information with, a multilateral approach to carry out preliminary assessments of confidentiality and data safeguards amongst all jurisdictions committed to AEOI has also been launched and is expected to be finalised by mid - 2016. In 2016, the AEOI Group will continue to work intensively across all these areas to ensure the timely and effective delivery of the commitments made. This will include developing the detailed framework for a s taged peer review process. Extensive capacity building work is also being continued by the Global Forum Secretariat, member jurisdictions and international organisations to work with lower capacity countries to ensure they can implement, and benefit from, the AEOI standard . 4 . Background: FATCA Intergovernmental A greements In 2010 the United States enacted legislation commonly referred to as FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), which effectively requires foreign financial institutions around th e globe to report account details of their U.S. customers to the U.S. tax administration. Recognising the important legal and cost issues of this approach the United States developed together with five other OECD (and EU) member countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) a model for the intergovernmental implementatio n of FATCA (Mode l F ATCA IGA). The Model FATCA IGA provi des for the implementation of FATCA through reporting by financial institutions to their local tax authorities, whic h then exchange the information on an automatic basis with the U.S. tax authorities. 6 The Model FATCA IGA is not only becoming a preferred route for the implementation of FATCA, it has also served as the template for the common model for automatic exchange of information. The Model FATCA IGA itself contains a commitment to work with interested countries, the OECD and where appropriate the EU on adapting the terms of the Model FATCA IGA “in the medium term to a common model for automatic exchange of informat ion, including the development of reporting and due diligence standards.” In a press release on 26 July 2012, the OECD welcomed the Model FATCA IGA. The OECD Secretary - General Angel Gurría said: “I warmly welcome the co - operative and multilateral approach on which the model agreement is based. We at the OECD have always stressed the need to combat offshore tax evasion while keeping compliance costs as low as possible. A proliferation of different systems is in nobody’s interest. We are happy to redouble ou r efforts in this area, working closely with interested countries and stakeholders to design global solutions to global problems to the benefit of governments and business around the world.” 7 Que s t i o ns a nd A n sw ers Q ues t i on: What are t he m a i n b e n e f it s of a u t o m a ti c e xchange? A n s w e r: ‒ A u t o m a ti c e x chan g e of i n f o r m a ti on c a n p r o v i de ti m e l y i n f o r m a ti on on no n - co m p l i ance w h e r e t ax has b e en e v aded e i t h e r on a n i n v e st m ent r e t u r n o r t he u nde r l y i ng cap i t al su m . ‒ I t can he l p de t e ct c a s e s of no n - c o m p li ance e v en w h er e t ax ad m i n i s t r a t i ons h a v e had no p r e v i o u s i nd i c a ti o n s of no n - co m p li ance. ‒ I t has de t e r r e n t e ff e c t s, i n c r ea s i ng v o l un t a r y co m p li a nce a nd e n cou r a g i ng t ax pay e r s t o r e p o r t a l l r e l e v ant i n f o r m a ti on. ‒ A u t o m a ti c exc h an g e m ay he l p ed u ca t e t axpa y e r s i n t h e i r r e po r t i ng o b li g a ti ons, i nc r ea s e t ax r e v enues and t hus l e ad t o f a i r n e ss – en s u r i ng t hat a l l t ax p a y e r s p ay t he i r f a i r s ha r e of t ax i n t h e ri g ht p l a c e at t h e r i g ht t i m e. ‒ I n a s m a l l nu m ber o f c a s e s c oun t r i es h a v e been ab l e t o i n t e g r a t e t he i n f o r m a ti on r ec e i ve d au t o m a t i ca l l y w it h t h e i r o w n s y s t e m s s uch t h a t i n co m e t ax r e t u r n s c an be p r e f i ll ed . Q ues t i on: What does t he S t anda r d con s i s t o f ? A n s w e r: T he S t an d a r d s e t s o u t t h e f i nan c i a l a cc ount i n f o r m a ti on t o be e xchan g ed, t h e f i nan c i a l i n s t i t u t i ons t h a t n e ed t o r e p o rt , t he d i f f e r ent t y pes of a ccou n t s and t a x pa y e r s co ve r ed, a s w e l l as co m m on due d i li g ence p r o c edu r es t o be f o l l o w ed by fi n an c i al i ns t i t u t i ons. I t c ons i s t s o f t w o co m p on e n t s : ( I ) t h e CR S , w h i ch c on t a i n s t h e re p or ti ng a n d du e d il i ge n c e ru l e s t o b e i m p o se d o n f i n a nc i a l i n s tit u t i ons ; a nd ( II ) t he M o d e l CA A , w h i c h c on t a i n s t h e de t a i l e d r u l e s o n t he e x ch an g e o f i nfo r m a ti o n. T h e f u l l vers i on o f t h e S ta n da r d , a s a ppr o v ed by t he C o u n c i l o f t h e O E C D o n 15 J u l y 2 0 1 4, a l s o i n c l ud es ( II I ) t h e C o mm e n t ar i e s on t h e M ode l C A A a n d t he CR S, an d s e v en a n ne x e s t o t he S t a nd a r d . Th o s e a nn e xe s a r e : (1 ) t he M u ltil a t era l M ode l C A A ; (2 ) t he N o nr e c i p r oca l M o de l CA A ; t h e t e c hn i c a l m o da lit i es , w h i ch i nc l u d e (3 ) t he C R S s ch e m a a n d use r g u i d e, an d ( 4) a q ues t i on n a i r e w i t h r e spe ct t o c onf i den t i a li t y an d d a t a saf e gua r ds ; (5 ) t h e W i de r A p pr o ac h t o t h e C R S; ( 6) t he D ec l ara t i o n o n A u t o m a ti c E x c h a n g e o f I n f o r m a ti on i n T a x M a tt er s ; a n d (7 ) t he R e co m m en da ti o n on t h e S t a n d ar d. Q ues t i on: What are t he m a i n d i f f e r e n ces be t w een t h e S t and a rd and FA T C A? A n s w e r: T he S t an d a r d c ons i s t s o f a f u ll y r e c i p r o cal a u t o m a t i c exc h an g e s y s t em fr om w h i ch U S sp e c i f i c it i es ha v e b een r e m o v ed. For i n s t a n ce, i t i s ba s ed on r e s i den c e a nd u n l i k e F A T C A d o es not r e f e r t o c i t i z en s h i p. T e r m s, conc e p t s and app r oac h es ha v e be e n s t an d a r d i s e d a l l o w i ng c o un t r i es t o use t he s y s t em w it ho u t ha v i ng t o ne g o t i a t e i nd i v i d u al anne x e s . U n li k e F A T C A, t he S t a n da r d does not p r o v i de f o r t h r e sh o l ds f o r p r e - ex i s t i ng i nd i v i d u al a c cou n t s, but i t i nc l u d es a r e s i de n ce add r e s s t e s t b u il d i ng on t he EU s a v i n g s d i r e c ti v e. I t a l s o p r o v i des f or a s i m p li f i ed i n d i c i a s e a r ch f o r s u ch acco u n t s. Fi n a l l y , i t has s p ec i a l r u l e s de a l i ng w it h c e rt a i n i n v e st m ent en t i t i es w h e r e t h ey a r e ba s e d i n j u r i s d i c t i o n s t h a t do n o t pa r t i c i p a t e i n au t o m a t i c ex c han g e und e r t he s t and a r d. 8 Q ues t i o n: When w i l l t h e S t andard b e i n t rod u ced a t d o m e s t i c l ev e l ? A n s w e r: T he S t and a r d i t s e l f d o es not co n t a i n any pa r t i c u l a r ti m e li n e s . H o w e v e r , i m p l e m en t a t i on at c o - o r d i n a t ed t i m e li n e s w ou l d b r i ng bene f i t s f o r b o t h bus i ne s s and g o v e r n m en t s. E i t her t h r ou g h t h e signing of the multilateral competent authority agreement , t he G 20 or t h e Global Forum commitment process , over 9 5 j u r i sd i c t i ons ha v e a l r eady pub l i c l y co m m itt ed t o i m p l e m ent t he St a nd a r d , with first exchanges of information to occur in 2017 or 2018 . Q ue s t i on: W i l l t h e re be a r ev i ew pro c e s s? A n s w e r: Y e s. T he G 20 has m anda t ed t he G l o bal For u m on T r an s pa r ency and E x chan g e of I n f o r m a ti on fo r T ax P u r po s es t o e s t a b l i sh a m echan i sm t o m on it or and r e v i ew t he i m p l e m en t a ti on o f t he new g l ob a l s t an d a r d on a u t o m a ti c exc h an g e of i n f o r m a ti on. The Global Forum’s automatic exchange of Information Group is in the process of designing the review process. Q ues t i on: What does t h i s m ean f or d ev e l o p i ng c ou nt r i e s ? A n s w e r: There is widespread recognition of the important be nefits to be gained by developing countries in implementing the standard, including from the G20 and in the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development. The G20 has given a mandate to the Global Forum o n Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes to help developing countries identify needs for technical assistance and capacity building, working together with the OECD Task Force on Tax and Development, the World Bank Group and others. Relat ed to this mandate the G20’s Development Working Group, along wit h the Global Forum, developed a Ro admap showing how developing countries can overc ome obstacles to participation in the automatic exchange standard and to assist them in meeting the standard. This was presented to the G20 Finance Ministers at their September 2014 meeting. Several capacity building projects are underway in the Global For um, and more will be established. These include pilot project s, which partner lower capacity countries with more experienced peers, the Global Forum and the World Bank Group to work toward staged implementation of the Standard. In addition, the Global Foru m provides bilateral advice and support to member jurisdictions, as well as a substantial program of training seminars. Q ues t i on: H ow i s t he co n f i den t i a l i t y of t he i n f o r m a t i o n excha n g ed ens u r ed ? A n s w e r: T he S t an d a r d c on t a i ns sp e c i f i c r u l es on t he c on fi d en t i a l i t y of t he i n f o r m a t i on exc h an g ed and t h e unde r l y i ng i n t e r n a ti o n al l eg al exchan g e i n s t r u m en t s a lr e ady con t a i n s a f e g ua r d s i n t h i s r e g a r d . M o r e de t a i l i s c o n t a i n e d i n t he C o mm e n t ar i e s on t he Mod e l CA A . Whe r e t h e s e s t and a r ds a r e not m et ( w h e t h e r i n l a w o r i n p r a c t i c e ) , c oun t r i es wi l l n o t e xc h a n g e i n f o r m a ti on au t o m a t i ca l l y . T o facilitate the decision making by Global Forum members as to which jurisdictions they will automatically exchang e information with , the Global Forum AEOI Group is undertak ing high l evel assessments of the confidentiality and data safeguards of jurisdictions committed to AEOI. Centralising this work in the Global Forum will further assist jurisdictions in speedily implementing AEOI, by reducing the need for each jurisdiction to conduc t its own assessment of the information security practices of each of the many jurisdictions committed to implementing AEOI. The process is now underway with the first batch of around 50 assessments due to be finalised by the end of 2015 and th e assessment s with respect to the remaining committed jurisdictions due to be finalised by mid - 2016. 9 ANNEX G20 and G8 support for automatic exchange of information I. Support from the G20 G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Communiqué Ankara, Tur key, 5 September 2015 “We continue to work to enhance the transparency of our tax systems, and reaffirm our previously agreed timelines for the implementation of automatic exchange of information. We reiterate our commitment to implement the G20 High - Leve l Principles on Beneficial Ownership Transparency and look forward to further progress on country implementation. We support the efforts made for strengthening non - G20 economies’ engagement in the international tax area and welcome the decisions taken unde r the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on international cooperation on tax matters.” G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Communiqué Istanbul, Turkey, 10 February 2015 “We will work towards completing the necessary legislative procedures to begin th e automa tic exchange of information (AEO I) within the agreed timeframe. We look forward to the practical and full implementation of the new standard on a global scale and reiterate our commitment to making AEOI attainable by all countries, including all fi nancial centers, and support the pilot projects.” G20 Leaders’ Declaration Brisbane, Australia, 16 November 2014 “To prevent cross - border tax evasion, we endorse the global Common Reporting Standard for the automatic exchange of tax information (AEOI) on a reciprocal basis. We will begin to exchange information automatically with each other and with other countries by 2017 or end - 2018, subject to completing necessary legislative procedures. We welcome financial centres’ commitments to do the same and call on all to join us. We welcome deeper engagement of developing countries in the BEPS project to address their concerns. We will work with them to build their tax administration capacity and implement AEOI. We welcome further collaboration by our tax author ities on cross - border compliance activities.” G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Communiqué Cairns, Australia, 2 1 September 2014 “ We endorse the finalised global Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of tax information on a recip rocal basis which will provide a step - change in our ability to tackle and deter cross - border tax evasion. We will begin exchanging information automatically between each other and with other countries by 2017 or end - 2018, subject to the completion of neces sary legislative procedures. We call on all financial centres to make this commitment by the time of the Global Forum meeting in Berlin, to be reported at the Brisbane Summit, and support efforts to monitor global implementation of the new global standard. ” 10 G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Communiqué Sydney, Australia, 23 February 2014 “We endorse the Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of tax information on a reciprocal basis and will work with all relevant parties, includin g our financial institutions, to detail our implementation plan at our September meeting. In parallel, we expect to begin to exchange information automatically on tax matters among G20 members by the end of 2015. We call for the early adoption of the stand ard by those jurisdictions that are able to do so. We call on all financial centres to match our commitments. We urge all jurisdictions that have not yet complied with the existing standard for exchange of information on request to do so and sign the Multi lateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters without further delay. We stand ready to give tougher incentives to those 14 jurisdictions that have not qualified for Phase 2 of the evaluations. We will engage with, and support low - in come and developing countries so that they benefit from our work on tax.” G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Communiqué Washington D.C., United States, 11 October 2013 “We will closely monitor the implementation of the ambitious ta x agenda agreed by our Leaders in St Petersburg and look forward to regular reporting from the Global Forum and the OECD, in particular as regards creating a new standard of automatic exchange of information and implementing the BEPS Action Plan. In ad dition, we reiterate the need for the Global Forum to complete the allocation of comprehensive country ratings regarding the effective implementation of information exchange upon request and ensure that the implementation of the standards are monitored on a continuous basis. We also reiterate our commitment to FATF's work.” G20 Leaders’ Declaration St. Petersburg, Russia, 6 September 2013 “We commend the progress recently achieved in the area of tax transparency and we fully endorse the OECD proposal for a truly global model for multilateral and bilateral automatic exchange of information. Calling on all other jurisdictions to join us by the earliest possible date, we are committed to automatic exchange of information as the new global standard, which must ensure confidentiality and the proper use of information exchanged, and we fully support the OECD work with G20 countries aimed at presenting such a new single global standard for automatic exchange of information by February 2014 and to finalizing techni cal modalities of effective automatic exchange by mid - 2014. In parallel, we expect to begin to exchange information automatically on tax matters among G20 members by the end of 2015. We call on all countries to join the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Ad ministrative Assistance in Tax Matters without further delay. We look forward to the practical and full implementation of the new standard on a global scale. We encourage the Global Forum to complete the allocation of comprehensive country ratings regardin g the effective implementation of information exchange upon request and ensure that the implementation of the standards are monitored on a continuous basis. We urge all jurisdictions to address the Global Forum recommendations in particular tho se 14 that have not yet moved to Phase 2. We invite the Global Forum to draw on the work of the FATF with respect to beneficial ownership. We also ask the Global Forum to establish a mechanism to monitor and review the implementation of the new global stan dard on automatic exchange of information.” 11 G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Communiqué Moscow, Russia, 20 July 2013 “We commend the progress recently achieved in the area of tax transparency and we fully endorse the OECD proposal for a truly global model for multilateral and bilateral automatic exchange of information. We are committed to automatic exchange of information as the new, global standard and we fully support the OECD work with G20 countries aimed at setting such a new single global standard for automatic exchange of information. We ask the OECD to prepare a progress report by our next meeting, including a timeline for completing this work in 2014. We call on all jurisdictions to commit to implement this standard. We are commi tted to making automatic exchange of information attainable by all countries, including low - income countries, and will seek to provide capacity building support for them. We call on all countries to join the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters without further delay. We look forward to the practical and full implementation of the new standard on a global scale. All countries must benefit from the new transparent environment and we call on the Global Forum on Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes to work with the OECD task force on tax and development, the World Bank Group and others to help developing countries identify their need for technical assistance and capacity building. We are looking forward to the Global For um establishing a mechanism to monitor and review the implementation of the global standard on automatic exchange of information. We urge all jurisdictions to address the Global Forum's recommendations and especially the fourteen where the legal framework fails to comply with the standard without further delay. We ask the Global Forum to draw on the work of the FATF in connection with beneficial ownership, and also ask the Global Forum to achieve the allocation of overall ratings regarding the effective imp lementation of information exchange upon request at its November meeting and report to us at our first meeting in 2014.” G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Communiqué Washington D.C., United States, 19 April 2013 “More needs to be done to address the issues of international tax avoidance and evasion, in particular through tax havens, as well as non - cooperative jurisdictions. […] In view of the next G20 Summit, we also strongly encourage all jurisdictions to sign or express interest in signi ng the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and call on the OECD to report on progress. We welcome progress made towards automatic exchange of information which is expected to be the standard and urge all jurisdictions to move towards exchanging information automatically with their treaty partners, as appropriate. We look forward to the OECD working with G20 countries to report back on the progress in developing of a new multilateral standard on automatic exchange of in formation, taking into account country - specific characteristics. The Global Forum will be in charge of monitoring.” G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Communiqué Moscow, Russia, 16 February 2013 “We strongly encourage all jurisdictions to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance. […] We reiterate our commitment to extending the practice of automatic exchange of information, as appropriate, and commend the progress made recently in this area. We support the OECD a nalysis for multilateral implementation in that domain.” G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Communiqué Mexico City, Mexico, 5 November 2012 “We will continue to implement practices of automatic exchange of information and call on the OECD to analyse the safeguards, mechanisms and milestones necessary to increase its use and efficient implementation in a multilateral context.” 12 G20 Leaders’ Declaration Los Cabos, Mexico, 19 June 2012 “In the tax area, we reiterate our commitment to strengt hen transparency and comprehensive exchange of information. […] We welcome the OECD report on the practice of automatic information exchange, where we will continue to lead by example in implementing this practice. We call on countries to join this growing practice as appropriate and strongly encourage all jurisdictions to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance.” G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Communiqué Mexico City, Mexico, 26 February 2012 “We call upon a ll countries to join the Global Forum on transparency and to sign on the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Assistance. We call for an interim report and update by the OECD on necessary steps to improve comprehensive information exchange, including automati c exchange of information and, together with the FATF, on steps taken to prevent the misuse of corporate vehicles and improve interagency cooperation in the fight against illicit activities.” II. Support from the G8 G8 Final Communiqué Lough Erne, 18 Ju ne 2013 “We commit to establish the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities as the new global standard, and will work with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to develop rapidly a multilateral model which wil l make it easier for governments to find and punish tax evaders.” “A critical tool in the fight against tax evasion is the exchange of information between jurisdictions. We see recent developments in tax transparency as setting a new standard and commit t o developing a single truly global model for multilateral and bilateral automatic tax information exchange building on existing systems. We support the OECD report on the practicalities of implementation of multilateral automatic exchange and will work tog ether with the OECD and in the G20 to implement its recommendations urgently. We call on all jurisdictions to adopt and effectively implement this new single global standard at the earliest opportunity. It is important that all jurisdictions, including dev eloping countries, benefit from this new standard in information exchange. We therefore call on the OECD to work to ensure that the relevant systems and processes are as accessible as possible to help enable all countries to implement this new standard.”