Dominica, Grenada and Saint Lucia have moved up the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development’s progress report into the category of jurisdictions considered to have substantially implemented the international standard on transparency and exchange of information, having now all signed at least 12 such agreements conforming to the standard.

The agreements signed involved these jurisdictions, as well as Antigua and Barbuda (which had already signed 12 agreements), and the Nordic countries.

The standard on transparency and exchange of information relates to the OECD Model Tax Convention, Article 26 of which is the most widely accepted legal basis for bilateral exchange of information for tax purposes. It is now considered to be internationally endorsed since a number of countries lifted reservations against it last year. These included OECD member-countries Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland, as well as Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco (previously considered non co-operative tax havens by the organisation), and non-OECD countries Costa Rica, Malaysia, the Philippines and Uruguay.

Last year, just under 200 tax information agreements and 110 double taxation conventions and protocols were signed or brought up to the standard by jurisdictions considered not to have implemented it fully. Consequently, 28 jurisdictions have moved out of this category since April 2009.

Some practitioners within the private client industry have expressed concerns over the effects of TIEAs on client privacy, especially as developing countries are brought within the TIEA network including some with dubious governance and human rights records, according to Keith Johnston, director of policy and communications at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

However, according to the OECD’s website, Article 26 is not incompatible with bank secrecy as it only requires limited exceptions to bank secrecy rules and would not therefore undermine the confidence of citizens in their privacy. Also, it notes that information exchanged is subject to strict confidentiality rules and can only be used for the purposes provided for in the convention.