Philippines largely compliant with exchange of info standards — DOF

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has been cited for its compliance with internationally agreed standards on the exchange of information on request (EOIR), according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

 It has maintained a “largely compliant” rating based on a peer review done by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum).

“This means that the Philippines remains to be largely compliant with the internationally agreed standards on EOIR and the country’s legal and regulatory framework are in place, but some aspects, like ensuring availability of beneficial ownership information for all relevant legal persons and arrangements, need improvement,” the DOF said.

Several jurisdictions have undergone an in-depth peer review process conducted by the Global Forum, which is currently in its second round of reviews covering the period of April 2014 to March 2017.

This follows the first round of reviews conducted in 2013, in which the Philippines also emerged as “largely compliant (LC).”

The DOF said it successfully defended the LC rating of the Philippines during the meeting with the Peer Review Group (PRG), which discussed, evaluated, and approved the peer review report of the Philippines.

Other jurisdictions with a LC rating, based on the second round of reviews, include the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Japan and India, among others.

The Global Forum is a multilateral framework which focuses on the transparency and exchange of information.

It consists of 126 member-countries, which includes all G20 countries, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, and other jurisdictions.

The Global Forum has developed and promoted standards on transparency and exchange of information through various publications.