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The Switzerland’s reputation, as one of the most secretive tax havens seem to fade after the introduction of the rules for sharing data on bank accounts. The International Convention for the automatic exchange of bank information entered into force on January 1 and Switzerland now comes in line with international standards for taxation.

The convention developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the global financial industry, states that financial information on bank accounts in Switzerland owned by nationals of certain countries in the future will be shared annually and automatic basis.

In the past, Switzerland has provided banking information only on request and at a limited number of countries. Even in these cases, Bern did not guarantee full cooperation.

The new regime enters into force because of increased international pressure on the country since 2008 after the FBI began investigating on large-scale tax evasion through Swiss banks.

According to a Swiss State Secretariat for International Financial Affairs the data collection began on January 1 this year and the first exchange of information will take place in 2018. The new standard provides for the mutual exchange of information. So Swiss institutions will now receive annual updates of data on bank accounts of its citizens abroad.

Besides Switzerland, nearly 100 countries, including all major financial centers, have declared their intention to adopt the standard.