G20 Cannes summit - Tackling tax havens and non-cooperative jurisdictions

We are committed to protect our public finances and the global financial system from the risks posed by tax havens and non cooperative jurisdictions. The damage caused is particularly important for the least developed countries. Today we reviewed progress made in the three following areas:

• In the tax area, the Global Forum has now 105 members. More than 700 information exchange agreements have been signed and the Global Forum is leading an extensive peer review process of the legal framework (phase 1) and implementation of standards (phase 2). We ask the Global Forum to complete the first round of phase 1 reviews and substantially advance the phase 2 reviews by the end of next year. We will review progress at our next Summit. Many of the 59 jurisdictions which have been reviewed by the Global Forum are fully or largely compliant or are making progress through the implementation of the 379 relevant recommendations. We urge all the jurisdictions to take the necessary action to tackle the deficiencies identified in the course of their reviews, in particular the 11 jurisdictions whose framework does not allow them at this stage to qualify to phase 2. We underline in particular the importance of comprehensive tax information exchange and encourage competent authorities to continue their work in the Global Forum to assess and better define the means to improve it. We welcome the commitment made by all of us to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and strongly encourage other jurisdictions to join this Convention. In this context, we will consider exchanging information automatically on a voluntary basis as appropriate and as provided for in the convention;
• In the prudential area, the FSB has led a process and published a statement to evaluate adherence to internationally agreed information exchange and cooperation standards. Out of 61 jurisdictions selected for their importance on several economic and financial indicators, we note with satisfaction that 41 jurisdictions have already demonstrated sufficiently strong adherence to these standards and that 18 others are committing to join them. We urge the identified non-cooperative jurisdictions to take the actions requested by the FSB;
• In the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism area, the FATF has recently published an updated list of jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies. We urge all jurisdictions and in particular those identified as not complying or making sufficient progress to strengthen their AML/CFT systems in cooperation with the FATF.

We urge all jurisdictions to adhere to the international standards in the tax, prudential and AML/CFT areas. We stand ready, if needed, to use our existing countermeasures to deal with jurisdictions which fail to meet these standards. The FATF, the Global Forum and other international organizations should work closely together to enhance transparency and facilitate cooperation between tax and law enforcement agencies in the implementation of these standards. We also call on FATF and OECD to do further work to prevent misuse of corporate vehicles.