Around 100 countries carried out automatic exchange of information in 2019, enabling their tax authorities to obtain data on 84 million financial accounts held offshore by their residents, covering total assets of 10 trillion euros, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said.
This represents a significant increase over 2018, when information on 47 million financial accounts was exchanged, totaling 5 trillion euros.
The growth stems from an increase in the number of jurisdictions receiving information as well as a wider scope of information exchanged, OECD said.
The Common Reporting Standard — developed in 2014 — requires countries and jurisdictions to exchange information on financial accounts of non-residents obtained from their financial institutions annually, reducing the possibility of offshore tax evasion.
Many developing countries have joined the process and more are expected to follow suit in the coming years.
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