Ensuring taxpayers pay the tax that is due is crucial to maintaining public finances and reinforcing the public’s trust in the tax system. This has become increasingly challenging as the financial system has become progressively global in nature and taxpayers have found it increasingly straightforward to move their financial income and assets across borders. Consequently, international cooperation to provide tax authorities with transparency over their taxpayers’ financial activities abroad is now the established norm and has equipped jurisdictions with the necessary tools to ensure that their taxpayers meet their domestic tax obligations.
A key tool is the automatic exchange of information amongst tax authorities on financial accounts held abroad, under the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters (AEOI Standard, often referred to as the Common Reporting Standard or the CRS),1 which was developed by the OECD, working with G20 countries, and adopted by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum) in 2004. The AEOI Standard provides for the annual automatic exchange of information (AEOI) on Financial Accounts held by taxpayers outside their jurisdiction of tax residence, with the tax authority in the jurisdiction in which they are tax resident. In this context, Financial Accounts covers most bank deposits, financial assets held in custody, life insurance contracts and financial investments. In certain cases, the AEOI Standard also covers Financial Accounts held by Entities that the taxpayers control. This helps ensure that tax evaders are at greater risk than ever of being caught and deters potential tax evaders from failing to properly declare their financial activities.
Tax authorities from 116 jurisdictions have commenced exchanges of information under the AEOI Standard, and in 2024 alone, jurisdictions automatically exchanged information on over 171 million Financial Accounts, with a total value of nearly EUR 13 trillion. This form of cooperation is set to increase, with another five jurisdictions expected to implement the CRS in the coming years. This move to the automatic exchange of financial account information has had a dramatic impact on taxpayer behaviour and the ability of tax authorities to ensure tax compliance. Over EUR 135 billion in tax, interest and penalties have been raised by jurisdictions through voluntary disclosure programmes and other offshore tax compliance initiatives since the commitments were made to implement the AEOI Standard and research have shown that financial investments held in international financial centres have decreased by 20% over the same time period, also linked to the implementation of the AEOI Standard.2
This change is the result of significant investment by governments across the world, all of which introduced legislation to require Reporting Financial Institutions to conduct the detailed due diligence and reporting rules to ensure the Financial Account information is reported, put in place international exchange agreements to exchange the information and implemented technical and operational solutions to deliver the exchanges in practice. In addition, legal, operational and technical frameworks have been needed to keep the information confidential and secure and investments have also been made in tools to analyse and utilise the information exchanged effectively. Furthermore, investments have been needed by the financial sector to ensure compliance with the due diligence and reporting rules.
To realise the full benefits of the AEOI Standard, including maximising the deterrent effect and the usability of the information exchanged, it must be ensured that the AEOI Standard is implemented effectively and on a widespread basis. This is why the G20 called on the Global Forum to monitor and review its global implementation, given the Global Forum’s established role in ensuring the widespread implementation of international tax transparency standards for exchange of information purposes. The Global Forum welcomed that call and started by seeking to ensure that all relevant jurisdictions (i.e. all Global Forum members, except developing countries that do not host a financial centre) implement the AEOI Standard according to common timelines. The Global Forum later moved to peer reviews of the legal frameworks in place and the effectiveness of the implementation of the AEOI Standard in practice, including the frameworks to ensure compliance by Reporting Financial Institutions.
Having commenced the publication of annual monitoring reports in 2017, in 2020 the Global Forum published the results of its peer reviews of the legal frameworks implementing the AEOI Standard, starting with the first 99 jurisdictions to commit to commence exchanging under the AEOI Standard from 2017 or 2018. The results have been updated each year thereafter, to include later jurisdictions to commit to implement the AEOI Standard as well as the results of reassessments conducted either as the result of specific target checks or where changes have been made to the legal frameworks implementing the AEOI Standard, such as to address recommendations made. In 2022, the Global Forum published the results of its initial peer reviews of the effectiveness in practice of the implementation of the AEOI Standard, including ratings, for the first 99 jurisdictions.3 Further results have similarly been published thereafter, including legal reassessments carried out as the result of specific targeted checks made in the context of the ongoing second round of AEOI effectiveness reviews that the Global Forum is conducting. These legal reassessments focused on the completeness of the compliance and enforcement frameworks jurisdictions have in place in their domestic legal frameworks.
This 2025 report provides an update on the latest situation of the assessments of the legal frameworks implementing the AEOI Standard, which reflects the results for a total of 118 jurisdictions, including an additional 4 jurisdictions since 2024 and includes reassessments in relation to 20 jurisdictions. This update shows that, amongst the 118 jurisdictions assessed, 114 or 97% have in place domestic and international legal frameworks that are fully or substantially complete and that have been determined to be “In Place” or “In Place But Needs Improvement.” Notwithstanding that, two jurisdictions still have fundamental deficiencies in their legal frameworks, and two jurisdictions have no legal frameworks in place at all, leading to four jurisdictions being issued an overall determination of “Not In Place.” These jurisdictions should therefore urgently address the issues identified to deliver an effective AEOI Standard based on a level playing field for governments and business.
With respect to ensuring the effectiveness of the implementation of the AEOI Standard in practice, this update sets out the latest results of the initial peer reviews for a total of 108 jurisdictions, which includes an additional 4 jurisdictions since 2024. The update shows that, amongst the 108 jurisdictions assessed, 63% of jurisdictions are rated as “On Track” with their implementation. This includes implementing administrative compliance frameworks that appear to be on track to effectively ensure compliance by Reporting Financial Institutions and ensuring the smooth operation of the exchanges in practice. Notwithstanding the progress made in both the domestic collection of information from Reporting Financial Institutions and the international exchange of this information, there is also clearly more to do to ensure the effectiveness of the AEOI Standard in practice, including to ensure the development and effective implementation of administrative compliance frameworks to ensure compliance with the AEOI Standard by Reporting Financial Institutions.
To retain this focus, the Global Forum put in place a framework for a second round of peer reviews in relation to the effective implementation of the AEOI Standard. These commenced in 2023 and are designed to obtain a deeper level of comfort that jurisdictions are implementing the AEOI Standard effectively. They include onsite visits by Assessment Teams of experts from AEOI jurisdictions, which meet all key stakeholders from the public and private sectors.
The reports and results of the second round of AEOI effectiveness reviews are due to be completed and published in 2026. This 2025 report therefore provides an update on the progress made, the key themes identified so far and the Global Forum’s work to support jurisdictions, including support provided in the course of the peer reviews and the extensive assistance and tools offered by the Global Forum’s Capacity Building and Outreach Programme. It also provides an overview of the substantial work undertaken by jurisdictions to develop and implement their administrative compliance frameworks. The range and scale of the compliance activities conducted highlight the importance placed by jurisdictions on ensuring that the AEOI Standard is effectively implemented in order to maximise the benefits of the AEOI Standard for all jurisdictions.
With the AEOI Standard having been operationalised by a vast number of jurisdictions for some time, the OECD worked with G20 countries, inviting all implementing jurisdictions to provide their inputs, to review its operation. This led to amendments being made to the Common Reporting Standard in 2023 (the amended CRS), which strengthen and enhance the CRS, a core component of the AEOI Standard. The G20 subsequently called on the Global Forum to ensure the widespread adoption of the amended CRS and to monitor its implementation. This report therefore also provides an update on the current state of play of the implementation of the amended CRS.
This report is structured as follows:
Chapter 1 provides the latest results of the Global Forum’s monitoring process in relation to the AEOI Standard as well as a first overview on the progress made towards the widespread implementation of the amended CRS.
Chapter 2 provides the latest results of the Global Forum’s peer review processes in relation to the AEOI Standard, including updated and new peer review reports on the legal framework and the initial effectiveness reviews. It also provides an update on the second round of AEOI effectiveness peer reviews and an overview of the activity undertaken by jurisdictions to ensure effectiveness.
Chapter 3 contains the jurisdiction-specific peer review reports completed and updated since the publication of the 2024 AEOI Review Report, including the analysis, findings and recommendations.
Annex A sets out the methodologies for the Global Forum’s peer reviews, including of the AEOI legal frameworks and the initial reviews of the effectiveness of the implementation of the AEOI Standard in practice. It also provides details on the process for the ongoing second round effectiveness peer reviews.
Annex B contains the AEOI Terms of Reference, which provides the basis for the AEOI reviews.
Annex C provides information on the exchange agreements the jurisdictions that have been newly assessed on their legal frameworks implementing the AEOI Standard have in place to exchange information under the AEOI Standard.
The information in this report is up to date as of 20 November 2025. Updates are available on the AEOI Implementation Portal4 and the relevant communication channels that each jurisdiction has in place domestically.