The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes held in Bermuda this week has been hailed as a success in the fight against international tax evasion and bank secrecy.The members of the forum issued nine peer review reports on Switzerland, the US, Singapore, the Isle of Man, France, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand and the Philippines focusing on the legal framework for transparency and exchange of tax information.The majority of jurisdictions previously reviewed said they had changed their domestic legislation following the forum’s recommendations. They included Belgium, which passed a law ending bank secrecy for exchange of information purposes, and the Cayman Islands, which ensured that offshore entities now have to keep appropriate accounts. Ghana also proposed legislation to expand ownership information requirements related to companies and trusts, and commenced negotiations to extend its network of information exchange agreements, while San Marino’s authorities will now be able to access all relevant information for both civil and criminal tax matters, and strengthened disclosure obligations for beneficial ownership of companies and trusts.“Countries take the peer review reports very seriously and they all have pledged to address the deficiencies we identified,” said chair of the Global Forum Mike Rawstron, who was joined at the final press conference held yesterday with Premier Paula Cox and Global Forum secretariat Pascal Saint-Amans.The forum revealed that an additional 25 peer review reports were set to be completed by November, bringing the total number to about 60 before the Group of 20 Summit in Cannes.“The Global Forum provides a valuable platform for developing countries in combating tax evasion and avoidance through offshore based schemes,” said John Njiraini, commissioner of domestic taxes in Kenya, which joined the forum last year and concluded negotiations and initialled a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with Bermuda at the event this week.The Premier said that significant progress had been made and was cheered by the readiness of jurisdictions to take firm steps to address the recommendations in the peer reviews, reflecting a shared goal to ensure a level playing field for all.“A natural consequence of our expanded membership is the addition of new perspectives and concerns, and it has been a pleasure seeing us come together from these disparate points of view,” she said.“It is important that the Global Forum remain a venue in which members can express their views frankly.”Mr Saint-Amans said that one of the main achievements to come out of the meeting had been inclusiveness with every country working towards the same global standard of exchange of information.He said that the nature of the meeting had changed from just a few years ago where the tone was more “confrontational”.“Now it is a completely new environment,” he said.He continued: “Here it is about producing concrete outcomes and results, levelling the playing field and making sure that competition is based on transparency and the services provided and not on secrecy.”