OECD - Improving Cooperation Between Tax and Anti-Money Laundering Authorities
Government authorities around the world must co-operate better and share information to counter financial crimes including tax evasion, money laundering, bribery and corruption, the OECD has said in a report.
The report titled ‘Improving Co-operation Between Tax and Anti-Money Laundering Authorities’, calls on governments to show greater co-operation between financial intelligence units (FIUs) and tax administrations.
It recommends that, “subject to the necessary safeguards, tax administrations should have the fullest possible access to the Suspicious Transaction Reports [STRs] received by the FIU in their jurisdiction.”
To achieve this, the report says “jurisdictions should look to not only provide the legislative framework to allow tax administration access to STRs but also look to ensure the operational structure and procedures to facilitate the maximum effectiveness in the use of STRs.”
Financial crimes threaten the strategic, political and economic interests of both developed and developing countries, an OECD spokesperson said, adding that “in a world of limited resources and increasing complexity, it is essential for government authorities to work closely together in a ‘whole of government’ approach to best address these challenges.”
The report was launched last week at the fourth OECD forum on tax and crime in Amsterdam, an event which brought together more than 200 senior officials and specialists from more than 70 countries and international organisations, who collectively share responsibility for combating financial crime and terrorist financing in all its forms.
Participants of the event stressed the need for capacity building to help developing countries to better fight financial crimes as part of domestic resource mobilisation.
Discussions about the dark web and the use of analytics to detect and deter financial crimes illustrated the importance of technology as both a risk and part of the solution to tax crimes and other crimes with further work forthcoming.
Click here to download the full report
Click here for further details on the fourth forum on tax and crime