LUXEMBOURG (Bloomberg) — Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, two countries criticised for failing to meet international tax standards, signed an accord to share some bank-account and taxpayer information.

Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden and Prime Minister Klaus Tschuetscher of Liechtenstein yesterday sealed commitments made by both governments in March to implement standards set out by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a statement on the Liechtenstein government website. "We are pursuing our path of international cooperation in tax matters with determination," Tschuetscher said in the statement. Frieden said the accord "will further strengthen the long-standing good and friendly relationship" on economic matters between the two countries.

The OECD earlier this year published a "gray list", which identified Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, a principality of 35,000 people wedged between Switzerland and Austria, as countries that hadn't yet implemented internationally agreed-upon tax standards. Leaders of the Group of 20 nations have cracked down on uncooperative countries in the fight against tax fraud, saying this is essential to fight the economic crisis.

Luxembourg, which signed a tax-information accord with Switzerland yesterday, was taken off the OECD list last month after it reached the required number of 12 bilateral agreements with other countries including France, the US and the UK.

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck in May grouped tax policies in Luxembourg and Liechtenstein with those in one of Africa's poorest nations, Burkina Faso.

Liechtenstein earlier this month signed an agreement with the UK that will allow British investors in the principality to voluntarily declare tax arrears.