Global Forum

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum) ensures that the international standards regarding transparency and the exchange of information for tax purposes are complied with and are implemented in a uniform manner internationally. Switzerland ist a member of the Global Forum.

Exchange of information upon request

The Global Forum uses peer reviews to assess the application of the international standard on the exchange of information upon request (administrative assistance) in individual states. The Global Forum already rated Switzerland as largely compliant during its first round peer review in 2016, and issued some recommendations. 

The Global Forum also rated Switzerland as largely compliant in 2020 in the second round of peer reviews. As with all Global Forum members, the second round involved stricter evaluation criteria, such as the quality of administrative assistance requests, group requests and the identification of beneficial owners. 

For an overview of which countries have already completed the reviews, as well as their results, please click here: Overall rating following peer reviews of the standard for the exchange of information on request (exchange of information on request, EOIR).

Statt einer dritten Prüfrunde wird die Umsetzung des Informationsaustauschs auf Ersuchen mittels eines Monitoring-Verfahrens basierend auf Peer Inputs und Selbstbeurteilungen überwacht. Demgemäss informiert die Schweiz das Global Forum jährlich über den Stand bzw. über die Fortschritte bei der Umsetzung der Empfehlungen.

 

Automatic exchange of information

2019, the Global Forum has started to perform comprehensive peer reviews concerning the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts (AEOI). Both the legal framework and AEOI effectiveness in practice are evaluated. This is a first round of testing on the AIA.

The review of the legal framework was completed in 2020. Switzerland's assessment in this regard was "in place but needs improvement". In the opinion of the Global Forum, exemptions from the reporting obligation for certain associations and foundations provided for in Swiss law are not standard-compliant, whereupon Switzerland submitted the related issues to the responsible OECD working group for consideration. In August 2022, the OECD Fiscal Affairs Committee approved a series of amendments to the Common Reporting Standard ("CRS") that take Switzerland's concerns into account. Based on the revised standard, the Global Forum will conduct a review of the legal framework.

The review of the effectiveness of the AEOI in practice was completed in 2022. In particular, it covered the operational framework for ensuring compliance with the obligations of the reporting financial institutions as well as the systems and processes for transmitting financial account information to the partner states. Switzerland received the best possible assessment "On Track" without recommendation.

Link to the AEOI Audit Report 2022

The second round of AEOI reviews is scheduled to begin in 2023 and last until the end of 2025. As in the first round of audits, all AEOI partner states will be audited simultaneously in accordance with the revised methodology. An on-site visit by the Global Forum expert panel is planned for Switzerland in the second half of 2023. The main focus of the upcoming review will be the effective implementation of the AEOI in practice.

Further information

Last modification 19.09.2023

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