The Global Forum for Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has upgraded its rating of Cyprus to “overall largely compliant.”
The revision from the previous rating of non compliant was approved by the assembly of the Global Forum which convened in Barbados on 29 and 30 October 2015.
The assembly approved a supplementary peer review report on Cyprus, according to which the Mediterranean island has been assigned a rating of largely compliant for the key elements of availability of ownership and identity information; availability of accounting information; and exchanging information.
The report further assigned Cyprus a rating of compliant for the remaining seven essential elements defined by the Global Forum, the multilateral framework within which work in the area of tax transparency and exchange of information is carried out by over 120 jurisdictions.
The Global Forum is charged by the OECD with in-depth monitoring and peer review of the implementation of the international standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.
The revised rating is an extremely significant development for Cyprus and its business environment, as it restores the country’s reliability after a period of economic distress.
The Global Forum ratings for all jurisdictions may be seen at: http://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/GFratings.pdf
