The OECD Global Forum

At the behest of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, Monaco has been committed, since 13/03/2009, to concluding agreements on the exchange of information which comply with the standards developed by the OECD.

Before the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, the Prince’s Government had reached agreements on fiscal transparency with twelve countries. Since 23/09/2009, the OECD Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has classified Monaco within the group of countries which “have substantially implemented the internationally recognised standards in the area of tax” (the so-called “white” list).

Steps taken since 2009

Starting in 2009, the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes  introduced a procedure for evaluating all members in two phases.

The Global Forum uses a peer review process (involving the other member countries) to assess whether its members have put in place an adequate legal and regulatory framework for the exchange of information for tax purposes (Phase 1 review). The second phase involves determining whether this framework is effectively applied (Phase 2 review). To date, 124 peer reviews have been carried out, including 50 Phase 2 assessments.

Phase 1: Evaluation of existing legislation

The Phase 1 review for Monaco provided an opportunity to evaluate the existing legislation. This review, made public in a Phase 1 report , published in September 2010, concluded that overall, the legislation in force in the Principality met the OECD standards.

Phase 2: Effective implementation

The objective of the Phase 2 review is to assess the capacity of States to respond to requests for information for tax purposes which may be submitted to them on the basis of the agreements signed. The review for Monaco was carried out during the second half of 2012.

The Phase 2 report , published on the official OECD website on 31 july 2013, notes the progress made by Monaco in ensuring its domestic legislation complies with OECD standards, and also that the Monegasque government has properly implemented all of these provisions in order to guarantee that information for tax purposes can be exchanged on request, as part of the corpus of bilateral agreements signed by Monaco.

Following the combined Phase 1 and 2 reviews of the first 50 States, the countries were rated by the Global Forum.

Positive assessment awarded by peer nations during Jakarta World Forum in November 2013

A report submitted for comment to all OECD World Forum members was ratified during the sixth annual meeting of the World Forum which took place on 21–22 November 2013 in Jakarta. The report judged Monaco to be "largely compliant"  with international standards for fiscal transparency, alongside countries such as Germany and the United States.

The Principality achieved an overall rating of “largely compliant”, with six “compliant”, three “largely compliant”, one “partially compliant” and no “non-compliant” ratings.

Subsequent to the Jakarta Forum, by the end of July 2014 Monaco will establish its annual follow-up report, which will provide an update on the progress made.