International Issues

Yesterday, the Honourable House of Assembly passed the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information Bill, 2016 with the unanimous support of all Parliamentarians. This Bill, which provides for the implementation of [The Common Reporting Standard](http://www.oecd.org/ctp/exchange-of-tax-information/Automatic-Exchange-Financial-Account-Information-Common-Reporting-Standard.pdf) (CRS), will now move on to the Senate (The Upper House of Parliament) for debate and passing before it becomes law. The process is expected to be completed before Parliament breaks for the Christmas holidays. The Bill was moved in the House by the Minister of State for Finance, the Hon. Michael Halkitis, M.P., who has oversight of The Competent Authority. In his communication to the House, Minister Halkitis restated The Bahamas’ commitment to transparency and international cooperation. The Hon. C.V. Hope Strachan, M.P., Minister of Financial Services, seconded the Bill. Minister Strachan thanked industry stakeholders for their cooperation in this important initiative, noting that industry will be formally advised shortly of the countries with which The Bahamas intends to negotiate. A working draft of the accompanying Regulations to the new legislation is under review, with expectations that industry will be briefed and given the opportunity to provide feedback before they are finalised. Bruno Roberts and Ivan Hopper, Co-Chairs of The Association of International Banks and Trust Companies in The Bahamas (AIBT), and BFSB’s CEO & Executive Director Tanya McCartney were present in Parliament for the tabling and passing of the legislation. Ms. McCartney says, *”Yesterday was an important milestone in the process to implement The Common Reporting Standard. We commend Minister Strachan and her team at The Ministry of Financial Services (the project lead on this initiative), the staff of The Office of the Attorney General, and The Ministry of Finance who actively engaged industry in this process.”* PDF of Bill below.

BRICS nations today pledged to share tax information automatically and adopt global standards on tax transparency to check cross border tax evasion. The Heads of Revenue of the BRICS countries – the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa – met on December 5-6 in Mumbai, India to discuss the potential areas of cooperation and exchange opinions and views based on their existing commitment to openness, solidarity, equality, mutual understanding, inclusiveness and mutually beneficial cooperation. The Heads also resolved to support other developing nations in increasing their tax administrations’ capacity to implement the OECD/G20 standard on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI). And, urged timely and consistent implementation of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project across as many tax jurisdictions as possible. The Heads of Revenue issued a joint communiqué at the end of the meeting that expressed their continued support to all international initiatives towards reaching a globally fair and universally transparent tax system. [Government of India, Ministry of Finance Release and Communique ](http://incometaxindia.gov.in/Lists/Press%20Releases/Attachments/560/Meeting-BRICS-Heads-Revenue-and-Experts-on-Tax-Matters-at-Mumbai-6-12-2016.pdf)

The [Inclusive Framework on BEPS](http://www.oecd.org/ctp/beps-about.htm) today released two new documents to support the global implementation of Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting (BEPS Action 13). These are: * Key details of jurisdictions’ domestic legal frameworks for CbC reporting; and * Additional interpretive guidance on the CbC reporting standard. These documents provide essential information that will give certainty to tax administrations and MNE Groups alike on implementation of CbC reporting. [OECD Release](http://www.oecd.org/tax/oecd-releases-further-beps-guidance-on-country-by-country-reporting-and-country-specific-information-on-implementation.htm?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=OECD%20releases%20further%20BEPS%20guidance%20on%20Country-by-Country%20reporting%20and%20country-specific%20information&utm_campaign=Tax%20News%20Alert%2005-12-2016&utm_term=demo) [Country Specific Information](http://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/country-specific-information-on-country-by-country-reporting-implementation.htm) [Guidance on CbC Reporting Standard](http://www.oecd.org/tax/beps/guidance-on-the-implementation-of-country-by-country-reporting-beps-action-13.pdf)

More than 100 jurisdictions have concluded negotiations on a multilateral instrument that will implement a series of tax treaty measures to update international tax rules and lessen the opportunity for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises. [The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS](http://www.oecd.org/tax/treaties/multilateral-convention-to-implement-tax-treaty-related-measures-to-prevent-beps.htm) will implement minimum standards to counter treaty abuse and to improve dispute resolution mechanisms, while providing flexibility to accommodate specific tax treaty policies. It will also allow governments to strengthen their tax treaties with other tax treaty measures developed in the [OECD/G20 BEPS Project](http://www.oecd.org/tax/beps). The new instrument will transpose results from the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project (BEPS) into more than 2 000 tax treaties worldwide. A signing ceremony will be held on June 2017 in Paris. *“The adoption of this multilateral instrument marks a turning point in tax treaty history,”* according to OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. He continues, *“It will save countries from multiple bilateral negotiations and renegotiations to implement the tax treaty changes in the BEPS Project. More importantly, having more than 100 jurisdictions on board will help ensure consistency in the implementation of the BEPS Project, which will result in more certainty and predictability for businesses, and a better functioning international tax system for the benefit of our citizens.”* [OECD Release](http://www.oecd.org/tax/countries-adopt-multilateral-convention-to-close-tax-treaty-loopholes-and-improve-functioning-of-international-tax-system.htm)

Saint Lucia has signed the [Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters](http://www.oecd.org/ctp/exchange-of-tax-information/convention-on-mutual-administrative-assistance-in-tax-matters.htm?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Multilateral%20Convention%20on%20Mutual%20Administrative%20Assistance%20in%20Tax%20Matters&utm_campaign=Tax%20News%20Alert%2021-11-2016&utm_term=demo), becoming the 107th jurisdictions to join the Convention. The Convention was developed jointly by the OECD and the Council of Europe in 1988 and amended in 2010 to respond to the call by the G20 to align it to the international standard on exchange of information and to open it to all countries, thus ensuring that developing countries could benefit from the new more transparent environment. The Convention is considered the ideal instrument for the swift implementation of the standard on exchange of information on request and the new OECD/G20 [Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters](http://www.oecd.org/tax/exchange-of-tax-information/standard-for-automatic-exchange-of-financial-account-information-for-tax-matters-9789264216525-en.htm?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Standard%20for%20Automatic%20Exchange%20of%20Financial%20Account%20Information%20in%20Tax%20Matters&utm_campaign=Tax%20News%20Alert%2021-11-2016&utm_term=demo). [OECD Release](http://www.oecd.org/tax/saint-lucia-expands-its-capacity-to-fight-international-tax-avoidance-and-evasion.htm?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Saint%20Lucia%20expands%20its%20capacity%20to%20fight%20international%20tax%20avoidance%20and%20evasion&utm_campaign=Tax%20News%20Alert%2021-11-2016&utm_term=demo)