OECD heralds 'end of era' for offshore secrecy

The OECD plans to introduce a global process to monitor member jurisdictions' implementation of tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs). The move, which was agreed at the OECD's global forum on tax information in Mexico this week, is in response to wide-spread critisicm of the effectiveness of TIEAs as OECD members have rushed to sign agreements under the threat of sanctions from more powerful rivals. The OECD says it is looking at speeding up the signing of TIEAs by allowing countries to sign multilateral treaties and offering technical support to smaller jurisdictions. The M...