Liechtenstein has agreed to ease its strict bank secrecy law by committing to OECD standards on tax transparency and data exchange.
Liechtenstein is seeking to be removed from a black list of tax havens and will now offer bilateral tax deals for co-operating in cases of tax fraud and tax evasion. It said it had already started concrete talks with individual states.
Coming on the heels of a landmark tax co-operation deal with the US in December, the move by Liechtenstein was a fresh attempt to clean the country??s image after a damaging data theft scandal that engulfed its largest bank LGT last year.
?Our bank secrecy has always served to ensure the legitimate protection of the privacy of the citizen, which we will continue to retain,? prime minister Otmar Hasler said in a statement.
?With this declaration, however, we want to make clear that bank client confidentiality in future cannot be misused to facilitate tax crime,? Mr Hasler said.
The principality is also offering to sign agreements that go beyond the OECD standards provided that clients of its banks holding secret accounts can be allowed to bring their money onshore and meet their tax obligations in an orderly manner.
Liechtenstein??s new commitment comes just weeks before a meeting of the G20 nations on April 2 that is due to discuss the fight against tax havens among other matters and could add pressure on neighbouring Switzerland, the world??s largest offshore centre.
Liechtenstein, along with Andorra and Monaco, is still on a black list of uncooperative financial centres drafted by the OECD and has been under pressure to relinquish its bank secrecy rules.
