The key to international tax co-operation is effective exchange of information and the OECD has been at the forefront of international efforts to promote all forms of information exchange - including on request, spontaneous and automatic - since it first established its Working Party on Tax Avoidance and Evasion in 1971. Since then, enormous progress has been made to establish high standards of tax transparency and information sharing so as to improve tax authorities' ability to deter, detect and disrupt tax evasion and avoidance.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
The restructuring and expansion of the in 2009 as a self-standing body to carry out in-depth peer reviews to assess compliance with international standards on tax transparency and exchange of information.
The launch of the OECD Oslo Dialogue in 2011 to promote a whole of government approach to tackling tax crimes and other financial crimes.
The establishment of a new single, common global standard on automatic exchange of financial account information in 2014 aimed at ending bank secrecy once and for all.