Two global wealth management hubs signed an agreement for automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters.
The agreement will commence in 2018 and the first exchange of data between tax authorities will take place in 2019. Both countries must complete internal procedures before the new agreement enters in force.
A Hong Kong government spokesman said, «We have been seeking to expand Hong Kong’s automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) network with our tax treaty partners. Including the agreement with Switzerland, Hong Kong now has 15 AEOI partners.»
Expanding Asian Agreements
The Swiss government initiated a consultation on the Hong Kong AEOI, as well as on a similar AEOI agreement signed with Singapore in July. The governments of Indonesia and Switzerland also inked a joint declaration the same month.
Ongoing Tax Hunt
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated that it was important for Indonesia to be able to implement AEOI with Switzerland as it was one of the largest financial centers in the world.
Indonesia has been trawling financial centres for offshore funds and following the closure of its domestic tax amnesty recently signed an agreement with Hong Kong.
