For STEP members I suspect the G-8 meeting has confirmed a couple of things, but left others open to question. The final communique confirms that we are moving from tax information exchange on request to automatic tax information exchange as the international standard. Moreover the OECD paper released for the G8 summit suggests strongly that Model 1 style FATCA Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) are likely to be the basis of the new global automatic information exchange mechanisms. None of that should come as a major surprise to anyone.
It also looks like the debate about improving transparency of beneficial ownership has been a difficult one for G-8, in spite of this being the area where the UK worked hardest to build expectations ahead of the summit.
At the end of the day the G-8 members have agreed to implement the latest FATF Recommendations, but they would have to in any case.
The US has also agreed to look at the issues that prevent effective access to beneficial ownership information in some US states, but without any clear timetable or indication of how it proposes to tackle the issue.
The UK is pressing ahead with a corporate register of beneficial ownership, but seems unlikely to make this a public register. On most reports it has also secured an agreement with the CDs and Overseas Territories regarding Mutual Assistance.
The direction of travel on all these issues is nevertheless clear. Later this week, for example, I am attending an EU meeting with the Commission on moving to automatic information exchange. As a senior figure at this week’s STEP Guernsey conference put it, the important issue for both the industry and jurisdictions in this environment is to ensure they are seen as part of the solution, not part of the problem.
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