New Delhi, Dec 4 (KNN)  Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha has said that cooperation amongst countries and sharing of information is the key to unearth illicit money stashed in safe havens.

Speaking during the inauguration of the 6th Meeting of the AEOI Group of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes here on Thursday, he lauded the work done by the Global Forum and the AEOI Group in fostering a climate of increased cooperation amongst tax jurisdictions, which he said has resulted in dramatic improvements in transparency, according to an official release.

Earlier, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), A.K. Jain delivered the welcome address and termed the process of exchange of information as a “game changer for tax administrations”.

Head of the Secretariat of the Global Forum, Monica Bhatia and Chair of the AEOI Group, David Pitaro appreciated India’s role in strengthening the mechanism of the exchange of information.

An important development on the sidelines of the meeting today was the signing of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) by Andorra, thus becoming the 75th country to have signed it. India had signed the MCAA on 3rd June, 2015.

The AEOI Group, which has 64 member countries presently, is mandated to develop a methodology to review the implementation of the new global standard on automatic exchange of information, i.e., the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). This review is carried-out in a transparent manner with all Global Forum members participating in the process on an equal footing.

During the 2-day meeting, one of the key areas of work would be the specific reviews of the confidentiality and data safeguards procedures of certain tax jurisdictions.  (KNN Bureau)