On February 13, 2014, the OECD published a standard for the automatic exchange of tax information among governments, intended to help fight cross-border tax evasion. Under the standard, governments would collect information from their financial institutions and exchange that information automatically with other countries annually.

“While closely following FATCA, it does deviate in a number of instances, including setting a $250,000 initial threshold for due diligence requirements said Jim Mastracchio, co-chair of BakerHostetler’s Tax Controversy practice and chair of the firm’s Criminal Tax Defense group. “This standard is another step toward global tax transparency,” added Jay Nanavati, a former prosecutor with DOJ Tax Division.