Brussels, 30/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 30 October, the government of Luxembourg welcomed recognition of its fiscal transparency efforts by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Tax Information.
Following a peer review, the Global Forum, meeting in Barbados from Friday evening onwards, decided to deem Luxembourg broadly complaint. Luxembourg's finance minister, Pierre Gramegna, issued a press release stating: “Luxembourg is no longer blacklisted. This is the result of a precise action plan which not only included a series of legislative and regulatory measures but also saw us improve our communication processes with international partners. We will continue to advocate for a global level playing field and support exchange of information on a broader basis,” he added. Luxembourg explained that it is among the first countries to apply the OECD's information exchange rules. Luxembourg newspaper Luxemburger Wort puts the victory into perspective by explaining that the same fate has been reserved for the other fifty countries that have been through the first two phases of the OECD's assessment process and that the Global Forum's vote on Friday evening means that there is no longer a blacklist. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)