09-09-2009-
A few days before the G20 Summit which is due to be held in Pittsburgh (USA) at the end of the month, Monaco has just passed a significant turning point in its steps aiming at “being removed from the grey list” by signing a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) today with Washington.
At 16:30 local time (Washington D.C.) yesterday, Tuesday 8th September, H.E. Franck Biancheri, Government Counsellor for External Relations and for International Economic and Financial Affairs, and Mr. Neal Wolin, Deputy Secretary of The US Treasury, signed an agreement on tax cooperation.
This text, which constitutes the same type of agreement as those previously signed with Belgium and San Marino, complements at government level the measures of the agreement signed in 2001 between AMAF (Monaco’s Banking Association) and the American Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with regards to Know Your Customer regulations which already enabled the Principality to be a ‘Qualified Intermediary Jurisdiction’.
Whilst negotiations are currently ongoing with several other countries (including Austria, Andorra and Qatar), yesterday’s signing comes just after the OECD World Forum (held in Los Cabos, Mexico on 1st and 2nd September 2009), of which the USA is a key member, and prior to the opening of the General Debate of the 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly for which H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince will travel to New York on 23rd September.
H.E. Franck Biancheri explained that he was “extremely satisfied with this agreement which is the crowning achievement of work carried out by a team, including the finalisation of the text at the Department for External Relations in Monaco and dealings with the US authorities via our Embassy in Washington”.
In order to be withdrawn from the grey list, Monaco needs to negotiate twelve bilateral agreements of this type. When they have been signed and officialised by the OECD, the Principality will join the white list. Negotiations in this regard are currently underway with about twenty countries.
Once signed, these texts will be integrated into Monaco’s national legislation by Sovereign Decree, complemented by arrangements for their practical enforcement.
For more information, please contact the Department for External Relations
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