The Swiss Federal Counsel on October 22 launched a consultation on a proposed law that would unilaterally apply OECD standards on information exchange to existing tax treaties that do not yet meet the standard.
The law would be a temporary measure to bridge the gap while Switzerland renegotiates its treaties to meet the OECD standard on information exchange on request. As many as 69 states or territories would be affected, the Swiss Federal Counsel said in a statement.
The Counsel said Switzerland would continue to deny information requests from countries that are unable to respond to requests from Switzerland in line with the OECD standard; that are unable to protect data; or that fail to comply with Swiss principles of “speciality,” which puts limits on how jurisdictions can use the data.
The consultation will run until February 5, 2015.
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