16/01/2026 - The Secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum) successfully delivered a series of virtual capacity‑building workshops on 13 and 14 January 2026, supporting member jurisdictions in the effective implementation of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for the automatic exchange of financial account information.
The workshops focused on two essential components of CRS effectiveness:
- determining the population of Financial Institutions (FIs)
- conducting compliance audits of Reporting Financial Institutions (RFIs)
A total of 142 participants from 27 member jurisdictions attended the sessions on identifying the population of FIs, while 168 participants from 30 jurisdictions took part in the workshops on RFI compliance audits.
During these events, the Secretariat also introduced two newly developed tools available exclusively upon request by tax authorities:
- Tool for the Identification of the Financial Institution Population for CRS
- Tool for the Audit of Reporting Financial Institutions under the CRS
These workshops form part of the Secretariat’s broader efforts to support jurisdictions in preparing for the second round of CRS effectiveness reviews.
As part of its Strategy to unleash the potential of the AEOI for developing countries, the Global Forum Secretariat continues to expand its suite of practical tools and learning materials to facilitate CRS implementation. Those two new tools complement a comprehensive set of resources, including:
- Toolkit for the Implementation of the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (2021)
- Model Administrative Compliance Strategy (2022)
- CRS Notifications Tracking tool and its glossary (2023)
- Methodology for implementation of the risk-based approach to administrative compliance – Risk matrix (2023)
- Model Manual for CRS Compliance Audits (2024).
» Browse all documents available to tax authorities upon request
The Global Forum is the leading multilateral body mandated to ensure that jurisdictions around the world adhere to and effectively implement the standard on transparency and exchange of information on request (EOIR) and the standards of automatic exchange of information (AEOI), covering financial accounts under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and crypto-asset transactions under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). These objectives are achieved through robust monitoring and peer review processes. The Global Forum also runs an extensive capacity-building programme to support its members to implement the standards and help tax authorities make the best use of cross-border information sharing channels.
The Global Forum capacity-building programme is supported by the following development partners:
