Lux makes OECD White List

Luxembourg has been promoted to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD)"White List" of tax havens which have met the international standard on exchange of information.

The international finance centre was formerly on the "Grey list" of countries which agreed to conform to the standards but are not yet up to scratch.

Luxembourg signed a double taxation convention with Norway, bringing its tally to twelve, which enables it to meet the OECD's threshold of Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) implemented to meet the internationally agreed standard.

Consequently, the progress report initially published by the OECD Secretariat on 2 April 2009 in conjunction with the G20 has been updated and Luxembourg has moved to the category of "jurisdictions that have substantially implement the internationally agreed tax standard," more commonly known as the white list.

Luxembourg has made rapid progress in upgrading its treaty network and further negotiations are also under way.

OECD secretary general, Angel Gurría, praised Luxembourg for its swift implementation of the OECD standards.

"In three months, Luxembourg has turned into reality its commitment to fully cooperate in tax matters. I would like to congratulate Minister Luc Frieden for his leadership in this process".

Gurría says the Luxembourg Government intends to continue with the process of negotiating agreements meeting the OECD standards.

He says while the threshold of 12 signed agreements is a good indicator of progress, "this should not be seen as just a numbers game. The threshold is not a ceiling. This is a dynamic process."

Gurría believes Luxembourg has shown countries are prepared to enter into agreements and extend the network of treaties, which meet the OECD standard.

"The process is working and I look forward to other countries following the example that Luxembourg has set," he adds.