Hong Kong has signed an agreement with Ireland for conducting automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters (AEOI) from 2018 onwards, a Government spokesman said on June 8, 2017.

The spokesman added that they have been seeking to expand Hong Kong’s AEOI network with their tax treaty partners. Including the agreement with Ireland, Hong Kong now has 12 AEOI partners. The others are Belgium, Canada, Guernsey, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

The spokesman also said that the Government also plans to extend the application of the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters to Hong Kong. An amendment bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council in late 2017. This will help further expand Hong Kong’s AEOI network.