As expected from media reports, Switzerland yesterday signed a multilateral convention to prevent tax evasion under guidelines agreed by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development.

It became the 58^th country to sign the convention, the Paris-based OECD said in a statement yesterday.

The signing comes after the Swiss Federal Council approved the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on 9 October.

“Switzerland has been committed to complying with international standards in tax matters since March 2009. The signing of the Convention confirms Switzerland's commitment to the global fight against tax fraud and tax evasion with a view to safeguarding the integrity and reputation of the country's financial centre," Switzerland’s Ambassador to the OECD Stefan Flückige, said in a statement.

The Multilateral Convention provides for all forms of mutual assistance: exchange on request, spontaneous tax examinations abroad, simultaneous tax examinations and assistance in tax collection, while protecting taxpayers’ rights. It provides the option to undertake automatic exchange while requiring an agreement between the parties interested in this form of assistance.

The 58 signatories to the convention are: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, UK and US.