PARIS: Kuwait Finance Ministry’s delegation members are pictured with Development and Economic Cooperation Organization’s Deputy Secretary General Rinatro Tamaki. —KUNA

PARIS: The State of Kuwait has joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for swapping taxation information according to criteria of the Development and Economic Cooperation Organization (OECD), becoming the first Arab country to ink the relevant international treaty. Kuwait Finance Undersecretary Khalifa Hamada said in a statement that he led the country’s delegation that signed the accord with the organization. Its Deputy Secretary General Rinatro Tamaki attended the signing ceremony-marking Kuwait as the 84th signatory state of the accord.

According to the agreement, financial institutions and banks are compelled to inform official quarters with information regarding interests, profits, assets, income; realized from settling financial assets for the benefit of citizens residing abroad. It regulates information swap, rights and duties of each party. The rules are also applicable on banking accounts that opened between 2016 and September 2017.

The Undersecretary affirmed that Kuwait’s joining of the accord affirms its adherence to rules for financial information exchanges as a means for combating tax evasion, which has pledged to put into effect ahead of the year 2018. After inking the agreement, the Kuwaiti delegation discussed with representatives of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes prospects of future cooperation.

Monica Bhatia, the forum secretariat chair, said in a statement to KUNA that Kuwait’s joining of the international treaty, currently, is of utter significance, considering its approach for taxation reforms. The forum was set up in 2009 by the G20 and the OECD with aim of enforcing the international rules for information swap in the domain. The move came in shadow of mounting cases of tax evasion globally, threatening States’ revenues. —KUNA