BVI, Guernsey and Jersey have signed some 16 new bilateral tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) to meet the OECD's standards of transparency requirements. The OECD attributes the agreements to governments' determination to fight tax evasion.

The global financial crisis and recent tax evasion scandals have changed the political climate, according to OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría.  "Financial centres that do not respect the OECD standards will not be allowed to gain a competitive advantage," Gurría said.

The British Virgin Islands signed bilateral TIEAs with Australia and the United Kingdom. Guernsey and Jersey each signed bilateral TIEAs with the Nordic economies- Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

According to the OECD, 44 TIEAs have been put in place since 2000.  The Isle of Man is leading, with 11 such pacts; Jersey has signed 10, Guernsey nine, the Netherlands Antilles four and the British Virgin Islands three. (Bermuda, also with three, signed its first bilateral agreement with the United States in 1986.)

The OECD believes it is making progress in other financial centres as well. It's press release notes that Cyprus and Malta have removed the last impediments to a full exchange of information; Belgium has negotiated its first tax treaty with full exchange of information; Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are implementing the OECD standards; and the government of Hong Kong (China) recently launched a review of its policy on exchange.

Gurría states that this will help "forge a more stable world financial system." Whether or not that is the case, it will certainly help higher tax nations in fighting tax evasion.

For further information, see the OECD press release.