The European Union and Monaco sign a new exchange of information agreement

From left to right : Serge Telle, Monaco’s Minister of State, Peter Kažimir, Slovak Minister of Finance in Brussels (under Slovakia’s presidency of the Council of the European Union), Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs. ©DR

Monaco and the European Union have today signed an exchange of information agreement. This new agreement will bring Monaco in line with international tax transparency standards.

Under the terms of the agreement – signed by Monaco’s Minister of State, the Slovak Minister of Finance in Brussels (under Slovakia’s presidency of the Council of the European Union), and the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs – Monaco and EU Member States will commence the automatic exchange of financial account information for non-residents from 2018, based on data collected from 1 January 2017 onwards.

In signing this agreement, Monaco has signalled its commitment to full tax transparency and automatic cooperation between tax administrations across Europe. The Principality has adopted the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) – a standard produced at the request of the G20 and used by the European Union.

All exchanges of information will comply with strict confidentiality and data protection requirements – key considerations for businesses and their clients.

“By signing this agreement, we are issuing a strong signal to Member States to remove Monaco from their blacklists for good,” explained Minister of State Serge Telle in his address. “It is worth remembering that Monaco is the only third country that is fully integrated into the EU customs territory and that the Principality is currently negotiating the terms of an Association Agreement with the EU”.

“However, given Monaco’s specific geographical and demographic characteristics, we will only enter into this Association Agreement on the understanding that our national identity and specificities are preserved”,the Minister of State also pointed out.