Federal Council adopts dispatch on automatic exchange of information with 41 states and territories

Bern, 16.06.2017 - During its meeting on 16 June 2017, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the introduction of the automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) with 41 states and territories. Implementation is planned for 2018, and the first sets of data should be exchanged in 2019. Switzerland is boosting its international position by extending its AEOI network to most of the G20 and OECD states, as well as other important financial centres around the world.

The proposals met with widespread approval from the interested parties who voiced their opinions in the consultations. In concrete terms, the AEOI will be activated with each individual state or territory by means of a specific federal decree within the framework of this dispatch. The exchange of information itself will be carried out based on the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA), which is in turn based on the international standard for the exchange of information developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Following the comments made during the consultations, the federal decree envisages that the Federal Council will prepare a situation report before the first exchange of data, which is planned for autumn 2019. In the process, it will be checked whether the states and territories concerned effectively meet the requirements under the standard, especially those concerning confidentiality and data security.

It is important for the Federal Council that a level playing field be created among states and that all major financial centres, in particular, be included. This year, Switzerland has introduced the AEOI with 38 states and territories, including all EU member states, and data will start to be exchanged with them in 2018.


Address for enquiries

Frank Wettstein, Communications, State Secretariat for International Financial Matters SIF
Tel. +41 58 462 38 56, frank.wettstein@sif.admin.ch



Publisher

The Federal Council
https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html

Federal Department of Finance
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https://www.admin.ch/content/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-67079.html