Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz said, on 6 May 2009, that Switzerland would seek to sign 12 tax treaties by the end of 2009 in order to qualify for removal from the OECD’s “grey list” of jurisdictions that have committed, but not yet substantially implemented, OECD standards on tax information exchange.

The internationally agreed tax standard requires exchange of information on request in all tax matters for the administration and enforcement of domestic tax law without …

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US President Barack Obama announced, on 4 May 2009, proposals designed to “level the playing field” by tightening up the system that allows US multinationals to defer paying US taxes on profits made on overseas investments. Under the reforms, multinationals would no longer be able to claim tax deductions on most foreign expenses, such as interest costs, until they repatriate earnings.

The reforms, which are likely to be included in this year’s Budget, would also close loopholes …

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The leaders of the G-20 countries, meeting in London on 2 April 2009, called for an end to bank secrecy and threatened sanctions against uncooperative jurisdictions identified by the OECD in a new, tiered “progress report”. But, despite calls from the French government, no sanctions have yet been imposed.

As part of the G-20 summit to tackle the financial crisis, leaders made commitments toward strengthening international financial supervision and regulation, and agreed, “to …

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