The Standard on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (the AEOI Standard) is being implemented on a global scale. This global reach is a key element to ensuring its effectiveness in combatting tax avoidance and evasion.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) is at the forefront of driving the global implementation of the AEOI Standard, through monitoring, assessing and assisting in its implementation, in addition to its ongoing work to ensuring the effective implementation of the standard of Exchange of Information on Request (EOIR). Over 100 of the Global Forum’s members are committed to implementing the AEOI Standard and the Global Forum is working to ensure the effective delivery of the commitments.

The Global Forum works on a three pronged approach to ensuring the effective implementation of the AEOI Standard:

• Calling for commitments to implement the AEOI Standard and then monitoring their delivery in real time.
• Reviewing the implementation of the AEOI Standard, including its effectiveness in practice.
• Providing assistance in the implementation of the AEOI Standard. 

More recently, the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) has been developed to extend AEOI to the crypto-asset market. The Global Forum is also working to develop a dedicated commitment and monitoring process to ensure the CARF’s widespread implementation.

THE COMMITMENTS MADE AND MONITORING THEIR DELIVERY

In order to ensure the widespread implementation of the AEOI Standard on financial accounts, the Global Forum initiated a commitment process in 2014, whereby all developing countries and financial centres were invited to commit to implement the AEOI Standard in time to commence exchanges in 2017 or 2018 and to exchange information with all interested appropriate partners (being all those jurisdictions interested in receiving information and that meet the expected standards in relation to confidentiality and data safeguards. Over 100 jurisdictions made such a commitment, including some developing countries not invited to do so.

• Status of commitments for the automatic exchange of information (version française)
• Exchanges that took place in 2018-2023 (version française)

Commitments to implement the AEOI Standard continue to be made by developing countries not originally invited to commit (due to the capacity constraints they face and their reduced risk to the level playing field) but that wish to benefit from the AEOI Standard.

• Peer Review of the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information 2023 Update (version française)
• Peer Review of the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information 2022 (version française)
• Peer Review of the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information 2021
• Peer Review of the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information 2020
• AEOI Implementation Report 2019 (version française)
• AEOI Implementation Report 2018 (version française)
• AEOI Implementation Report 2017 (version française)

To keep pace with the rapid development and growth of the crypto-asset market and to ensure that recent gains in global tax transparency will not be gradually eroded, a significant number of countries have welcomed the new international standard on automatic exchange of information between tax authorities developed by the OECD – the CARF. The list of jurisdictions that have announced their intent to work towards swiftly transposing the CARF into domestic law and activating exchange agreements in time for exchanges to commence by 2027 (subject to national legislative procedures as applicable) is available here:

• Signatories to Joint Statement on the Implementation of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework

REVIEWing the implementation of the aeoi standard ON FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS

The Global Forum put in place a “Staged Approach” to monitor, assess and assist the implementation of the Standard during the implementation process. This started with assessments of the confidentiality and data safeguard standards in place in each jurisdiction, followed by the assessment of the domestic legal frameworks being put in place to ensure financial institutions collect and report the information to exchange, and a mechanism to facilitate exchange agreements being put in place between all interested appropriate partners.

As part of its mandate to ensure the effective implementation of tax transparency standards worldwide, the Global Forum has moved to conduct peer reviews of the effectiveness of the implementation of the AEOI Standard in practice, starting in 2020. As a first step, the Global Forum adopted Terms of Reference to be used in these peer reviews. The Terms of Reference incorporate aspects in relation to both the legal implementation of the AEOI Standard and its effective operation in practice.

• Terms of Reference for the review of the AEOI Standard (version française)

The Global Forum then worked on the Methodology with which to conduct the AEOI peer reviews in relation to the effectiveness of the implementation of the AEOI Standard in practice. This incorporates lessons learned from the early exchanges and builds on the assessments that have already been conducted. 

assisting in the IMPLEMENTATION of the aeoi standard ON FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS

The Global Forum engages in a range of activities to support its member jurisdictions in effectively implementing the international standards on transparency and exchange of information, and ensuring that exchanges between members’ tax authorities are efficient and of high quality. Assistance is provided for the Exchange of Information on Request, the Automatic Exchange of Information and Confidentiality and data safeguards.

• Toolkit for the Implementation of the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (version française)
• More resources

For more information, please visit www.oecd.org/tax/transparency.