On 12 November 2019 the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes issued peer review reports on eight countries. The reports cover Andorra, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, the Marshall Islands, Samoa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The reports assess the level of compliance by each country with the international standard on transparency and exchange of information on request. They form part of the second round of peer reviews, assessing compliance by the jurisdictions with the updated standard. Under this standard beneficial ownership information of relevant legal entities and arrangements must be available.

The reports indicated that six of the jurisdictions – Andorra, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Marshall Islands, Samoa and the United Arab Emirates – have made progress in implementing the standard and they have been given an overall rating of “Largely Compliant”. Since the first round of peer reviews took place these jurisdictions have improved access to information; developed broader networks of agreements on exchange of tax information; and improved monitoring of the handling of incoming requests for exchange of information. Saudi Arabia also kept its overall rating of Largely Compliant.

The latest peer review reports have made new recommendations, especially with regard to the improvement of measures on the availability of beneficial ownership of relevant entities and arrangements, in line with the enhanced standard.

Panama received an overall rating of “Partially Compliant” with the standard. There are still issues with regard to the availability of accounting information and some other matters. The report also recommended that Panama should strengthen its supervisory programmes to establish that these categories of information are actually maintained in practice.

The Global Forum is mandated to ensure that jurisdictions adhere to and effectively implement the standard of transparency and exchange of information on request and the standard of automatic exchange of financial account information. To achieve this objective the Global Forum carries out a monitoring and peer review process. There is also a technical assistance programme to support efforts by members of the Global Forum to implement the standards and to support tax authorities in efficient use of cross-border information sharing channels.