STEP yesterday (14 April) received a letter from Mr Kosie Louw, Chair of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, which was sent to all members of the Global Forum.
The letter contains the following statement:
‘I want to state that the public release of taxpayer information is not consistent with the international standards for tax transparency. Indeed, a key aspect of our work has been concerned with ensuring that when such information is held by governmental authorities it is shared only with persons authorised in accordance with the standard and the applicable international agreements that give effect to both EOIR and AEOI.’
STEP welcomes this statement, which reinforces our message that while we support international initiatives on transparency and anti-money laundering, families have a right to legitimate confidentiality in their financial affairs and there must be effective safeguards to protect their information from risk of abuse.
We look forward to working with the OECD in the weeks and months ahead to support and inform their efforts in combatting tax evasion and any actions that support criminal activity such as money laundering and terrorist financing, and to rebuild public confidence in the international finance system.
The STEP Blog 
I am pleased to see this statement. The release of the Panama Papers was a crime. People’s lives were put at risk and it means that the security of legally private information was brought into the public sphere. The fact that the cashe held information on persons who may have been misbehaving, cannot suffice for the millions who expected the assurance of constitutional protections.
Professor Gilbert NMO Morris
Interesting commentary, one thing we can be certain of is that Mr Louw doesnt need to disclose his personal tax affairs, given that OECD staff pay no tax……..