Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

The Global Forum plenary, which includes all members, is the sole decision-making body of the Global Forum. Each member’s voice counts equally and each decision requires consensus (minus one, in some cases) amongst members. The Chair of the Global Forum is Mr Gaël Perraud, from France.

In order to facilitate its work, the Global Forum has established 4 subsidiary groups focusing on different aspects of the Global Forum’s work, all of which report back to the Global Forum including with any proposals for adoption by its members.

The Steering Group prepares and guides the future work of the Global Forum. The Steering Group is currently chaired by France and includes three Vice-Chairs (Italy, Japan and Kenya), along with 17 other members. The Steering Group also includes the Chair of the Peer Review and Monitoring Group (PRMG) and the Chair of the Automatic Exchange of Information Peer Review Group (APRG).

The Peer Review and Monitoring Group (PRMG) oversees the Global Forum’s peer reviews in relation to the EOIR Standard. It consists of 30 Global Forum members and is currently chaired by Ms Wendy Roelandt from Belgium, assisted by four vice chairs (Cayman Islands, India, Sweden and the United States). The PRMG meets three to four times a year to discuss and approve the peer review reports and proposals on other matters related to the review of the EOIR Standard, which are then submitted for adoption by the Global Forum.

The Automatic Exchange of Information Peer Review Group (APRG) oversees the work on peer reviews against the AEOI Standard. Its main tasks include drawing conclusions on the legal frameworks of the Global Forum members that have committed to implement the standard with a specific date and put domestic legislations in place (AEOI Peers), and assessing their effective implementation in practice.

The APRG is comprised of 30 members from the AEOI Peers and three additional members (Georgia, Uganda and the United States) involved in its work to the extent it relates to confidentiality and data safeguards. The APRG is chaired by Ms Vandana Ramachandran from India, assisted by two Vice-Chairs (New Zealand and Switzerland). It has a mandate running to the end of 2025 when the second round of AEOI peer reviews are due to be completed. The APRG meets three to four times a year to discuss and approve peer review reports, which are then submitted to the AEOI Peers for adoption.

The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework Group (CARF Group) oversees the Global Forum’s work on ensuring the widespread implementation of the CARF. The CARF Group consists of 56 members and has two Co-Chairs, Mr Carl Scholtz from South Africa and Ms Nancy Tremblay from Canada, as well as two Vice Chairs (Italy and the United States). It meets regularly to discuss technical issues relevant to supporting the implementation of the CARF.

The CARF provides for the automatic exchange of tax relevant-information on Crypto-Assets between tax authorities in order to tackle tax evasion and avoidance. Following its establishment in September 2023, the first focus of the CARF Group is working to build on the Global Forum’s commitment and monitoring processes to ensure the widespread implementation of the CARF.

The review process consists of assessment teams (which include two assessors from member jurisdictions supported by the Secretariat) conducting a detailed review of the legal framework each jurisdiction has in place to facilitate EOIR, as well as the effectiveness of the operation of the EOIR standard in practice. This includes the analysis of input from each jurisdiction’s exchange partners and information obtained during an on-site visit. The assessment team then prepares a report including recommendations with respect to areas requiring improvement. The report is submitted to the PRMG for approval, where the assessment team and the assessed jurisdiction can present their positions, and, once approved, the report is submitted to the Global Forum for adoption.

The Global Forum has conducted both the AEOI legal frameworks assessments and initial effectiveness reviews. This process has consisted of the Secretariat conducting the analysis, proposing recommendations where any gaps are identified, before the analysis is shared with all jurisdictions implementing the AEOI Standard for comment. The analysis is then submitted to the AEOI Group for approval before being submitted to all jurisdictions implementing the AEOI Standard for endorsement. The Global Forum has moved to a further round of peer reviews (2023-ongoing) ensuring that jurisdictions implement the AEOI Standard effectively on a level-playing field.

The Global Forum also reviews the confidentiality and data safeguards standards in place in each jurisdiction with a particular focus on the policies and systems in place. It has conducted pre-exchange assessments of all jurisdictions to provide comfort for exchanges to commence and has commenced post-exchange reviews to assess the policies and systems in practice. The reviews have been conducted by a group of experts (including legal, operational and cybersecurity experts) from member jurisdictions, supported by the Secretariat. Where issues are identified then exchange partners are no longer expected to send information to the jurisdiction concerned until the issues are successfully addressed.