1. Monitoring the implementation of the AEOI Standard

Abstract

In response to the international community’s demand to advance global transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes, demonstrated by the calls from the G20, the OECD developed the AEOI Standard in 2014. All members of the Global Forum, aside from developing countries that did not host a financial centre, were asked to commit to automatically exchanging financial information under the AEOI Standard by 2017 or 2018. This section contains the latest information on the timeliness of the implementation of the AEOI Standard by all jurisdictions.

    

Following a call by the G20, the OECD, working with G20 countries, developed the AEOI Standard in 2014. The Global Forum was immediately tasked by the G20 with monitoring the implementation of the AEOI Standard worldwide. As a first step the Global Forum put in place a commitment process to facilitate the widespread application of the AEOI Standard, based on a level playing field.

The AEOI commitment process

As soon as the AEOI Standard was developed, the Global Forum recognised the potential benefits of its rapid and widespread implementation, alongside its existing standard of exchange of information on request (EOIR). The Global Forum therefore immediately put in place a process to promote the global implementation of the AEOI Standard. Consequently, all Global Forum members, except for developing countries that did not host a financial centre, were asked to commit to:

• implement the AEOI Standard;

• exchange information with all Interested Appropriate Partners (all jurisdictions interested in receiving information from a jurisdiction and that meet the expected standards in relation to confidentiality and data safeguards); and

• commence exchanges in 2017 or 2018.

Forty-nine “early adopter” jurisdictions quickly committed to exchange information under the AEOI Standard in 2017 and a further 51 jurisdictions in 2018. Another 20 jurisdictions have since committed to implementing the AEOI Standard in time to start exchanging by 2024. This includes 14 developing countries not asked to commit to the AEOI Standard to a specific timeline, but that want to access the benefits the AEOI Standard has to offer. It also includes a further three jurisdictions identified through the Global Forum’s “jurisdiction of relevance” process established to maintain a level playing field, which subsequently voluntarily committed to implement the AEOI Standard.

Further details on the individual commitments made are contained in the tables 1.1 to 1.3 below.

Monitoring the timeliness of delivery

The Global Forum has since monitored the timeliness of the delivery of each aspect of the implementation process. The key milestones relate to:

• putting in place a domestic legislative framework to require Financial Institutions to collect and report the information for exchange that is in accordance with the detailed due diligence and reporting rules contained in the AEOI Standard;

• putting in place an international legal framework permitting the automatic exchange of information with a jurisdiction’s Interested Appropriate Partners. This includes an underlying legal basis and an administrative agreement containing the details of the exchanges – the vast majority of jurisdictions are using the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (the Convention) along with the CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (or CRS MCAA)1; and

• a technical infrastructure to receive the information from Financial Institutions and to process and transmit it to a jurisdiction’s exchange partners. All jurisdictions use the Common Transmission System (CTS), developed and procured by the OECD and managed by the Global Forum.

Further details on each jurisdiction’s timeliness in meeting these milestones are contained in the tables 1.2 to 1.4 below.

Delivery of the commitments

Table 1.1 presents details of the exchanges that took place in 2020 and 2021. The widespread delivery of the exchanges shows that the overwhelming majority of jurisdictions implemented the necessary legal and technical frameworks, in accordance with their commitments.

97% of the jurisdictions have delivered on their commitment to exchange information under the AEOI Standard.  

        

Table 1.1. Jurisdictions that have exchanged information in 2020 and 2021
Jurisdiction	Year of commitment to first exchanges	Number of partners to which the data relating to 2019 was sent in 2020	Number of partners to which the data relating to 2020 was sent in 2021
1. Albania1, 6	2021	59	69
2. Andorra	2018	69	60
3. Anguilla	2017	52	55
4. Antigua and Barbuda2	2018	30	-
5. Argentina	2017	71	76
6. Aruba	2018	66	64
7. Australia	2018	70	72
8. Austria	2018	68	71
9. Azerbaijan6	2018	48	63
10. Bahamas	2018	56	58
11. Bahrain	2018	59	63
12. Barbados	2018	61	64
13. Belgium	2017	72	77
14. Belize	2018	64	63
15. Bermuda	2017	60	64
16. Brazil	2018	69	76
17. British Virgin Islands	2017	67	65
18. Brunei Darussalam	2018	33	41
19. Bulgaria	2017	71	72
20. Canada	2018	57	66
21. Cayman Islands	2017	70	73
22. Chile	2018	69	72
23. China (People’s Republic of)	2018	69	75
24. Colombia	2017	70	77
25. Cook Islands	2018	68	68
26. Costa Rica	2018	69	71
27. Croatia	2017	70	75
28. Curaçao	2018	66	51
29. Cyprus	2017	72	74
30. Czech Republic	2017	66	74
31. Denmark	2017	73	76
32. Dominica3	2018	-	1
33. Ecuador6	2021	N/A	44
34. Estonia	2017	69	73
35. Faroe Islands	2017	67	73
36. Finland	2017	70	77
37. France	2017	68	71
38.Including New Caledonia	2020	29	33
39. Germany	2017	68	74
40. Ghana6	2019	64	62
41. Gibraltar	2017	69	72
42. Greece	2017	69	74
43. Greenland	2018	69	77
44. Grenada	2018	65	61
45. Guernsey	2017	70	73
46. Hong Kong (China)	2018	50	67
47. Hungary	2017	72	71
48. Iceland	2017	67	70
49. India	2017	68	72
50. Indonesia	2018	69	72
51. Ireland	2017	73	77
52. Isle of Man	2017	68	75
53. Israel	2018	61	67
54. Italy	2017	71	75
55. Japan	2018	70	75
56. Jersey	2017	69	72
57. Kazakhstan2	2021	N/A	-
58. Korea	2017	70	74
59. Kuwait	2019	67	62
60. Latvia	2017	69	75
61. Lebanon2	2018	50	-
62. Liechtenstein	2017	68	75
63. Lithuania	2017	70	70
64. Luxembourg	2017	72	77
65. Macau (China)	2018	60	67
66. Malaysia	2018	65	68
67. Malta	2017	73	73
68. Marshall Islands	2018	59	60
69. Mauritius	2018	69	74
70. Mexico	2017	67	73
71. Monaco	2018	63	65
72. Montserrat2	2017	60	-
73. Nauru	2018	69	73
74. Netherlands	2017	68	70
75. New Zealand	2018	66	73
76. Nigeria6	2020	25	63
77. Norway	2017	71	75
78. Oman	2020	28	28
79. Pakistan6	2018	57	61
80. Panama	2018	63	66
81. Peru6	2020	15	45
82. Poland	2017	71	74
83. Portugal	2017	71	76
84. Qatar	2018	49	58
85. Romania	2017	67	71
86. Russia	2018	63	68
87. Saint Kitts and Nevis	2018	57	59
88. Saint Lucia	2018	65	68
89. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines4	2018	-	-
90. Samoa	2018	64	65
91. San Marino	2017	68	71
92. Saudi Arabia	2018	68	74
93. Seychelles	2017	63	25
94. Singapore	2018	66	70
95. Slovak Republic	2017	68	77
96. Slovenia	2017	72	78
97. South Africa	2017	68	76
98. Spain	2017	71	78
99. Sweden	2017	70	73
100. Switzerland	2018	66	72
101. Turkey	2018	34	55
102. Turks and Caicos Islands5	2017	63	58
103. United Arab Emirates	2018	68	70
104. United Kingdom	2017	70	72
105. Uruguay	2018	70	74
106. Vanuatu	2018	53	52
Notes: The number of exchanges jurisdictions undertake each year tend to increase due to the expansion of exchange networks. However, fluctuations are observed in some cases due to technical issues when sending the information. This can lead to rejections by exchange partners of the information sent. In such cases, jurisdictions are expected to address the issues and send/re-send the information.
The United States has undertaken automatic information exchanges pursuant to FATCA from 2015 and entered into intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with other jurisdictions to do so. The Model 1A IGAs entered into by the United States acknowledge the need for the United States to achieve equivalent levels of reciprocal automatic information exchange with partner jurisdictions. They also include a political commitment to pursue the adoption of regulations and to advocate and support relevant legislation to achieve such equivalent levels of reciprocal automatic exchange.
← 1. Albania voluntarily committed to 2021, but started exchanges in 2020.
← 2. These jurisdictions are delayed in undertaking the exchanges that should have taken place in 2021. They are expected to carry out the exchanges in the near future.
← 3. Dominica was delayed in undertaking the exchanges that should have taken place in 2018, 2019 and 2020. It has been able to commence exchanges with one partner so far in 2021 and is expected to carry out the remaining exchanges in the near future.
← 4. Due to technical difficulties, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was delayed in undertaking the exchanges that should have taken place in 2020 and 2021.
← 5. Due to technical difficulties, the Turks and Caicos Islands was delayed in undertaking the exchanges that should have taken place in 2019.
← 6. These jurisdictions are developing countries that were not asked to commit to implementing the AEOI Standard to a particular timeline, but did so voluntarily.

While recognising the widespread successes in the fulfilment of the commitments made, some jurisdictions have not yet delivered. A fully effective AEOI Standard requires a level playing field and the Global Forum therefore continues to work closely with these jurisdictions to facilitate the delivery of their commitments.

Table 1.2 shows the jurisdictions that are late in putting in place the necessary legal frameworks to implement the AEOI Standard, namely Sint Maarten and Trinidad and Tobago.

Table 1.2. Jurisdictions that have not yet exchanged information because their legal implementation is ongoing
Jurisdiction	Year of commitment to first exchanges	Status
1. Sint Maarten	2018	Domestic and international legal frameworks not in place
2. Trinidad and Tobago	2018	Domestic and international legal frameworks not in place

Table 1.3 shows the jurisdictions that have in place the legal frameworks to implement the AEOI Standard but that have not put in place the technical requirements for exchange, namely Niue.

Table 1.3. Jurisdictions that have not yet exchanged information because their technical implementation is ongoing
Jurisdiction	Year of commitment to first exchanges	Status
1. Niue	2018	Has not linked into the CTS

Commitments to commence exchanges in the future

A further twelve jurisdictions are committed to starting exchanges in the coming years. These are set out in Table 1.4 below.

Table 1.4. Jurisdictions committed to commencing exchanges from 2022 onwards
Year of commitment to first exchanges	Jurisdiction
2022	Jamaica1, Kenya1, Maldives1, Morocco1
2023	Jordan2, Moldova1, Montenegro2, Thailand2, Uganda1, Ukraine1
2024	Georgia1, Rwanda1
← 1. Developing countries that do not host a financial centre and that were not asked to commit to a specific date to exchange information, but that have done so voluntarily.
← 2. Jordan, Montenegro and Thailand were identified through the Global Forum process aimed at identifying jurisdictions of relevance for the implementation of the AEOI Standard and subsequently voluntarily committed to implement the AEOI Standard.

Peer reviews of the quality of implementation

While the timeliness of implementation is critical, the full potential benefits of the AEOI Standard will only be delivered if the requirements are implemented in a complete and effective manner.

To ensure this, Global Forum conducts peer reviews with respect to the quality of the implementation of all aspects of the AEOI Standard. Chapter 2 contains further details in this regard.

Note

← 1. Details on each of the agreements in place can be found in Annex B.