Japan and Panama on Wednesday agreed to start negotiations on a tax information exchange agreement to enhance transparency in the financial system. The move comes at a time of scrutiny over offshore tax avoidance by the rich and powerful following a leak of records from a prominent law firm.

“I would like to expect progress in our negotiations so that we can achieve transparency in our tax information,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said during a joint news conference with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela.

Varela said he hopes Japan will be the first country to sign an agreement with Panama under the OECD framework of a common reporting standard.

Japan is one of 96 countries to announce its intention to join the scheme, which allows members to automatically exchange their bank information, including tax information, with other countries. The framework was adopted in 2014 at the request of the Group of 20 nations in an effort to fight tax evasion and to stem illicit flows of cash.

Varela also pledged Panama’s commitment to a responsible financial system and repeated his position that Panama will sign the tax agreement bilaterally rather than multilaterally, as envisaged by the OECD.

“We are renewing our commitment to a responsible financial system,” Varela said. “We will proactively cooperate to cope with the international issue in order to prevent the vulnerability of the financial system from being exploited for a purpose that will not serve our mutual interest.”

Panama has come under fire since the Panama Papers, a trove of 11.5 million leaked documents, this month revealed that a Panama-based law firm helped individuals establish offshore companies in tax havens. The G-20 last week urged tax havens to make international tax flows more transparent.

Meanwhile, Japan pledged a ¥280 billion loan to Panama for a monorail project in Panama City. It will be South America’s first monorail and will use Japanese technology. The two countries also agreed on a visa-waiver system.