In 2014, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) adopted the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters (the AEOI Standard), developed by the OECD working with G20 countries. To deliver a level playing field, the Global Forum launched a commitment process under which 100 jurisdictions committed to implement the AEOI Standard in time to commence exchanges in 2017 or 2018. Exchanges accordingly commenced in September 2017 and a total of 86 jurisdictions are already exchanging financial account information automatically, marking a major shift in international tax transparency and the ability of jurisdictions to ensure tax compliance. This represents the vast majority of the jurisdictions that committed to implement the AEOI Standard. It also includes two developing countries that were not asked to commit to implement the AEOI Standard but which spontaneously committed commence exchanges under the AEOI Standard by 2018. So far in 2018, these 86 jurisdictions have completed around 4,500 bilateral exchanges. Each exchange contains detailed information on the financial accounts held in the sending jurisdiction by tax residents of their partner jurisdictions. This milestone represents a major success, with even more jurisdictions expected to commence exchanges in the coming months. This widespread move to the automatic exchange of information is particularly remarkable when it is considered that all the jurisdictions exchanging information had to (i) introduce detailed domestic rules requiring their financial institutions to collect and report the data to be exchanged, (ii) put in place international agreements with each of their partners to deliver the widespread networks necessary for automatic exchange, and (iii) put in place the technical solutions to link into the Common Transmission System (CTS) that was put in place by the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration and which is being managed by the Global Forum. While the vast majority of the 100 jurisdictions committed to commence exchanges in 2017 or 2018 delivered on their commitments, an effective AEOI Standard based on a level playing field requires full delivery by all. As set out in this report, the remaining gaps are mostly due to delays in some jurisdictions putting in place the domestic legislative framework for the collection of the information or the international legal agreements required for the exchanges. The Global Forum is therefore working with the remaining jurisdictions to maintain the focus on the implementation and to complete the delivery of the commitments. In addition to timeliness, the quality of implementation is also important. The Global Forum is therefore reviewing in detail each jurisdiction’s domestic legislative frameworks to ensure their compliance with the AEOI Standard, as well monitoring the international legal frameworks being put in place to ensure the delivery of the commitments made. The Global Forum is also developing a peer review process to ensure the effective operation of the AEOI Standard in practice. This is the second detailed annual report to be published by the Global Forum on the implementation status of those jurisdictions committed to implement the AEOI Standard. Its contents reflect the situation as at 22 November 2018. The latest developments can be found on each jurisdiction’s website and/or on the AEOI Portal.
