Delivering a Level Playing Field for Offshore Bank Accounts. What the New OECD/Global Forum Peer Reviews on Automatic Information Exchange Must Not Miss

64 Pages Posted: 18 Mar 2017

Date Written: March 2, 2017

Abstract

The OECD’s Global Forum is set to publish the terms of reference for peer reviews on automatic exchange of information pursuant to the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) in the near future. This paper anticipates those terms and proposes concrete elements that future peer review should contain for them to be effective in protecting the integrity of the CRS. Chief among these elements are specific statistics to ensure compliance, identify avoidance schemes and allow evaluation by independent and excluded parties (e.g. developing countries and civil society). We have written several reports identifying fundamental loopholes, gaps and biases in the CRS, and proposed fixes to them. However, we understand that neither the Global Forum nor the upcoming Terms of Reference for peer reviews can change or fix the CRS. For this reason, this report focuses only on recommendations for what peer reviews can do to ensure that the CRS, as it is, will be effectively implemented.

Keywords: Offshore Finance, International Cooperation, Money Laundering, Economic Development, Developing Countries, Tax Havens, Secrecy Jurisdictions

JEL Classification: F38, H26, K34, O19, O23, F63, F53, F55, H77

Suggested Citation

Meinzer, Markus and Knobel, Andres, Delivering a Level Playing Field for Offshore Bank Accounts. What the New OECD/Global Forum Peer Reviews on Automatic Information Exchange Must Not Miss (March 2, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2934156 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2934156

Markus Meinzer (Contact Author)

Tax Justice Network ( email )

Andres Knobel

Tax Justice Network ( email )

Argentina

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