20/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 May, Luxembourg and the United States signed an agreement introducing exchange of information on request between their administrations, in the event of tax evasion. The text, which takes the form of a memorandum of understanding amending provisions of the 1996 bilateral treaty, is in line with OECD standards on tax information upon request, its secretary general, Angel Gurria, was pleased to point out. “A fundamental transformation is underway in international tax cooperation practices”, he said, welcoming the speed with which Luxembourg has withdrawn its reservation to the OECD standard on exchange of information. Luxembourg has within a matter of weeks renegotiated its agreement with the United States to allow for the exchange of bank information on request in all tax matters. Luxembourg may conclude about 20 conventions of this kind with OECD member nations by the end of 2009 and thus disappear from the “grey list” of organisations on which it had been placed after the G20. (A.B./transl.jl)