Global Forum publishes ten new peer review reports on transparency and exchange of information on request

Anguilla has taken steps towards addressing the recommendations made in its previous report in 2020 and increasing its overall compliance with the standard, but there continues to be scope for improvement in the legislative framework and its implementation in practice, particularly in respect of the availability of beneficial ownership and accounting information. Supervision and enforcement of the new provisions related to beneficial ownership introduced in the Anti-Money Laundering framework and record retention requirements for legal entities and arrangements and licensed service providers would be required. Anguilla also continued to experience challenges in the proper implementation of its organisational processes, which led to less than effective exchange of information with partners. Overall, Anguilla was rated “Partially Compliant” with the standard, in an improvement from its 2020 peer review “Non-Compliant” rating. Access the report

Antigua and Barbuda made some, but insufficient, progress towards compliance with the EOIR standard since its previous reportin 2014. Whilst the availability of legal and beneficial ownership information was enhanced, including by setting up the beneficial ownership registers for international and domestic sectors, further improvements are necessary to ensure full compliance with the standard. Most importantly, further changes are required to ensure the availability of accounting information, and a comprehensive oversight programme must be put in place to supervise compliance by all relevant legal entities and arrangements. Antigua and Barbuda greatly expanded its exchange of information (EOI) relationships by joining the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, which entered into force in 2019, and made improvements on exchange of information practices. Yet, the peer review identified some outstanding deficiencies in the use of access rights and exchange of information in practice. In view of these deficiencies, Antigua and Barbuda is rated overall “Partially Compliant” with the EOIR standard. Access the report

Argentina has addressed recommendations made in its previous peer review report in 2013 and showed continued commitment to the standard. Argentina introduced and implemented beneficial ownership reporting requirements to the tax administration covering all relevant entities and arrangements. Some aspects related to the legal requirements and  the practical implementation nonetheless need to be improved. On exchange of information, Argentina has sent a substantial number of requests to its exchange partners and provided timely responses to the requests received from them. The new peer review concluded Argentina to be overall “Compliant” with the EOIR standard. Access the report

Belize has addressed some of the issues identified in the 2014 peer review report but not sufficiently to reach a satisfactory level of compliance with the standard. With the introduction of the new Companies Act 2022, the distinction between international business companies and domestic companies has been removed. Belize has introduced a new online business register for registering existing and new companies incorporated under the new Companies Act. These changes are important from the perspective of ensuring the availability of ownership and accounting information for these companies. However, International Limited Liability Companies have not been captured by these changes, nor have other legal entities and arrangements. Further, while the Anti-Money Laundering framework provides a definition of beneficial owners, sufficient guidance on the identification of beneficial owners is needed. In terms of exchange of information, Belize faced difficulties in obtaining and providing requested information due to challenges on the availability of such information, due to deficiencies in the legal framework and to non-optimal organisational arrangements in the EOI unit. The current review rated Belize as “Partially Compliant” with the EOIR standard, down from the “Largely Compliant” rating obtained in 2014. Access the report

The Faroe Islands have a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework in place to ensure the availability of legal ownership, accounting and banking information. Recent obligations were introduced for different types of entities to identify and submit beneficial ownership information to a publicly available central register, in addition to requirements already existing in Anti-Money Laundering laws, although a few minor gaps were identified. There is need to ensure that information submitted to the central register be kept up to date. An effective oversight programme for the register should be put in place, and beneficial ownership information of relevant partnerships should be available in all cases. The Faroe Islands have a wide network of EOI relationships, a well-organised Competent Authority function with appropriate powers to access information, and have already received and sent out a number of EOI requests. This first peer review since the jurisdiction joined the Global Forum in 2017 rated the Faroe Islands overall “Compliant” with the EOIR standard. Access the report

Greenland has put in place a legal and regulatory framework to comply with the EOIR standard. This includes legislation to ensure that comprehensive legal and beneficial ownership information, and accounting information, on Greenlandic entities and arrangements is publicly available in the central business register. Supervisory authorities have a ready-to-implement and comprehensive oversight and enforcement framework to ensure the information in the register is accurate and up to date. As the beneficial ownership register is relatively new and supervision activities have not fully commenced, Greenland is recommended to supervise the practical implementation of its framework. Finally, Greenland has in place an expansive EOI network, and although no requests for information were made during the review period, Greenland is active at exchanging a wide range of information with its closest partners on an automatic basis. Greenland’s first peer review since it joined the Global Forum in 2017 delivered an overall “Compliant” rating with the EOIR standard. Access the report

Lesotho was rated “Largely Compliant” with the EOIR standard in its previous peer review published in 2016. The current report is limited to a review of the legal and regulatory framework (Phase 1), due to a change in the Methodology for EOIR reviews and the country’s limited experience in EOIR. Lesotho has a legal and regulatory framework in place that generally requires the availability, access to and exchange of relevant information for tax purposes in accordance with the standard, but improvements are needed to ensure full availability of ownership and identity information, including beneficial ownership information, of relevant legal entities and arrangements and bank accounts as well as accounting information. Improvements are also needed to ensure the confidentiality of information exchanged. The implementation of the legal and regulatory framework in practice will be reviewed, and an overall rating assigned, in a Phase 2 review that will take place once Lesotho has developed its experience in exchange of information and at the latest in 2026. Access the report

Paraguay’s first assessment since it joined the Global Forum in 2016 is limited to a review of its legal and regulatory framework (Phase 1), due to the country’s limited experience in EOIR. Since joining the Global Forum, Paraguay has brought its legal and regulatory framework closer to the standard, including to require the availability of information on the legal and beneficial owners of legal entities and arrangements, and to broaden the access powers of the tax administration. However, improvements are required regarding the availability of beneficial ownership information on relevant legal persons, legal arrangements and bank accounts. Recommendations have also been issued concerning the availability of accounting records and with respect to the access powers of the tax administration, which may be limited by the broad scope of professional privilege. The implementation of the legal and regulatory framework in practice will be reviewed, and an overall rating assigned, in a Phase 2 review that will take place once Paraguay has developed experience in exchange of information and at the latest in 2026. Access the report

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has amended its laws and practices to address some of the issues identified in the previous peer review report published in 2014. Notably, legislative changes to international business companies’ regime provided for business companies to carry-on business in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, their ability to tax under a territorial tax system and for greater availability of certain ownership and accounting information within the jurisdiction. Amendments were also made with respect to registered trusts. These changes improved the availability of ownership and accounting information for these companies and trusts. However, the Limited Liability Companies have not been subject to similar changes. Further, while the Anti-Money Laundering framework provides a definition of beneficial owners, further guidance is needed and the system in place does not cover all relevant entities and arrangements. In terms of exchange of information in practice, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines improved its organisational capacity, but the effectiveness of its exchanges was hampered by certain communication challenges. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines maintained the overall “Largely Compliant” rating obtained in the 2014 review. Access the report

The Seychelles has made significant progress in both its legislation and implementation of the EOIR standard since its previous peer review in 2020. This progress has allowed the Seychelles to address key recommendations and consequently to improve its compliance with some aspects of the standard. Nevertheless, the supervision activities and related enforcement measures in respect to the availability of the information have been carried out recently and the Seychelles continued to face difficulties to provide full responses in all cases due to the lack of availability of this information. The progress achieved was not deemed sufficient to lead to an upgrade of the overall rating obtained in 2020, which therefore remains “Partially Compliant” with the standard. Access the report