Brussels, 11/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 10 October, French finance minister Pierre Moscovici welcomed the decision by Switzerland on 9 October to sign the OECD convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax affairs, including the voluntary (but not necessarily automatic) exchange of tax information about foreign holders of bank accounts in signatory countries. Switzerland has joined the 56 other countries that have signed the convention to date, and Moscovici says this demonstrates the dynamism internationally and in Europe of the move under the impulse of France for transparency on tax affairs and the gradual generalisation of automatic exchange of bank information as the international norm. In parallel, Switzerland adopted a draft negotiating mandate for the savings tax agreement signed with the European Union, extending the scope of the mandate to avoid tax-payers getting round savings tax rules through the use of trust funds and foundations. These decisions still need to be ratified by the Swiss parliament, where there is strong opposition to this type of agreement and which recently opposed a tax cooperation agreement with the United States. (FG/transl.fl)