The past few years have seen increased worldwide attention on the issue of tax evasion and the need for international cooperation to address this problem. All countries have an interest in fighting international tax evasion and working together to raise the level of tax cooperation throughout the world. The Global Forum is the leading international body working for the past few years to ensure transparency and international cooperation through exchange of tax information in accordance with the international standard. The Sixth Meeting of the Global Forum, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 21-22 November, will mark an important milestone in this process with the release of compliance ratings for 50 jurisdictions.

The Global Forum meeting will see representatives of more than 80 jurisdictions and 10 International Organisations discuss ways to further promote information exchange in tax matters, toward the goal of ensuring that all people, in all countries, pay their fair share. The Global Forum will release compliance ratings for more than 50 countries and jurisdictions, assessing the quality of their legal and regulatory framework and implementation of global tax standards. The ratings will range from “compliant,” to “largely compliant,” “partially compliant” or “non-compliant” on the availability of information, access to information and exchange of information and there will also be an overall rating.

Participants in the Forum meeting will also discuss new developments in the exchange of information, future challenges related to automatic exchange of information and how to ensure that developing countries maximise the benefits of technical assistance provided by the Global Forum and International Organisations.

The following events are open to accredited media:

• Thursday, 21 November at 8.30 a.m. (Jakarta time) – Opening Session, with speeches by H.E. Dr. Muhammad Chatib Basri, Minister of Finance, Indonesia, and Mr. Kosie Louw, Chair of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
• Thursday, 21 November at 6.00 p.m. (Jakarta time) –Signing Ceremony for the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

• Friday, 22 November at 4.30 p.m. (Jakarta time) – News Conference to present compliance ratings for 50 jurisdictions with Global Forum standards, as well as key developments in the area of Exchange of Information.  Speakers include: Mr Bambang Brodjonegoro , Vice Minister of Finance, Indonesia; the Chair of the Global Forum, Kosie Louw; the Chair of the Peer Review Group, François d’Aubert; Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration; and Monica Bhatia, Head of the Global Forum Secretariat.

To request accreditation for the Global Forum media events, journalists should contact Mr Haru at thisisharu@gmail.com and/or Ms Yani at mbakyani@gmail.com.

For background information and interview requests, journalists should contact  the OECD Media Division (news.contact@oecd.org, + 33 1 45 24 97 00) or Jeremy Maddison of the Global Forum Secretariat ( jeremy.maddison@oecd.org or + 33 1 45 24 88 57).

Further information on the Global Forum is available at:

www.oecd.org/tax/transparency / www.eoi-tax.org

Also Available

• Sixth Meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, 21-22 November 2013, Jakarta, Indonesia