Whereas the signatory countries to the multilateral Agreement between the competent authorities on the automatic exchange of financial account information (the Agreement) are parties to, or territories covered by, the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters or the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters as amended by the Protocol amending the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance) or that these countries have signed or expressed their intention to sign the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance and they acknowledge that the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance must be in force and effective before the first exchange of financial account information takes place;

And whereas the countries intend to enhance international tax compliance by further building on their relationship regarding mutual assistance in tax matters;

And whereas the Common Reporting Standard has been developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with the G20 countries to address tax avoidance and evasion and improve tax compliance;

And whereas a country that has signed or expressed its intention to sign the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance becomes a country as defined in Article (2) of this Agreement only when it becomes a party to the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance;

And whereas the regulations of the concerned countries require or are expected to require that financial institutions report information related to specific accounts and follow the associated due diligence procedures, in accordance with the scope of exchange outlined in Article (2) of this Agreement and with the reporting procedures and due diligence procedures specified in the Common Reporting Standard;

And whereas it is expected that the regulations of the countries will be amended from time to time to reflect updates in the Common Reporting Standard and when such changes are enacted by a country, the Common Reporting Standard is considered to refer to the updated version regarding that country;

And whereas Chapter Three of the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance allows for the exchange of information for tax purposes, including the automatic exchange of information, and permits the competent authorities in the countries to agree on the scope and models of such automatic exchange;

And whereas Article (6) of the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance states that two or more parties may mutually agree to exchange information automatically, the exchange of information will be on a bilateral basis between the competent authorities;

And whereas the countries, or are expected to have, from the time of the first exchange implementation (1) appropriate safeguards to ensure that the information received under this Agreement remains confidential and is used only for the purposes specified in the Agreement, and (2) the infrastructure for an effective exchange relationship (including institutional procedures to ensure timely, accurate, and confidential information exchange, effective and reliable communications, and capabilities to resolve any issues or inquiries regarding the exchange or exchange requests without delay and to apply the provisions of Article (4) of this Agreement);

And whereas the competent authorities in the countries intend to conclude an Agreement to enhance international tax compliance based on the automatic exchange under the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance, without prejudice to national legislative procedures (if any), related to the European Union framework (if applicable), and considering the confidentiality and protective measures contained in the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance, including provisions that restrict the use of information exchanged under that Agreement;

Therefore, the competent authorities have agreed to the following:

1. For the purposes of the information exchange mentioned in Article (2), the amount and description of the payments made regarding the reporting obligation may be specified in accordance with the principles of the state tax systems that are engaged in the information exchange.

2. The information exchanged as mentioned in Article (2) specifies the currency in which each relevant amount is valued.

3. Regarding paragraph (2) of Article (2), and subject to the notice procedure specified in Article (7), including the dates specified in that paragraph, the information must be exchanged starting from the years specified in Appurtenance (W) and within nine months after the end of the calendar year to which the information relates. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, the exchange regarding a calendar year is required only when this Agreement is applicable to both competent authorities and the concerned countries have effective reporting systems for such calendar year that comply with the scope of the exchange mentioned in Article (2) and the reporting procedures and due diligence contained in the Common Reporting Standard.

4. Repealed.

5. The competent authorities shall automatically exchange the information described in Article (2) of the Common Reporting Standard scheme in "extensible markup language" (XML).

6. The competent authorities shall work towards, and agree on, one or more methods for transmitting the data, including encryption standards, with the aim of increasing the standardization of calibration and reducing difficulties and costs, and this shall be specified in Appurtenance (B).

The competent authority shall notify the other competent authority if the first-mentioned competent authority has reason to believe that there may be an error that has led to the reporting of incorrect or incomplete information, or that there is non-compliance by a reporting financial institution with the applicable reporting requirements and due diligence procedures in accordance with the Common Reporting Standard. The notified competent authority shall take all appropriate measures available in its local system to address the errors or non-compliance described in the notice.

1. In all exchanged information, the rules of confidentiality and other protective measures outlined in the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance shall be observed, including provisions that restrict the use of exchanged information and to the extent necessary to ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data in accordance with the protective controls that may be determined by the competent authority providing the information in accordance with its local regulations and included in Appurtenance (C).

2. The competent authority shall immediately notify the Secretariat of the Coordinating Body regarding any breach of confidentiality or failure in protective measures, and any penalties and corrective actions imposed thereafter shall be communicated to the Secretariat of the Coordinating Body and all competent authorities to which this Agreement is applicable with the aforementioned competent authority.

1. In the event of any difficulties arising in the implementation or interpretation of this Agreement, a competent authority may request consultation with one or more competent authorities to prepare appropriate procedures to ensure compliance with this Agreement. The competent authority that requested the consultation shall ensure, as appropriate, that the Secretariat of the Coordinating Authority has been notified of any procedures that have been prepared, and the Secretariat of the Coordinating Authority shall notify all competent authorities, including those that did not participate in the consultations, of any procedures that have been prepared.

2. This Agreement may be amended unanimously, with the written consent of all competent authorities to which this Agreement is applicable. Unless otherwise agreed, this amendment shall take effect on the first day of the month following the expiration of a one-month period after the date of the last signature on such written agreement.

1. The competent authority shall, at the time of signing this Agreement or as soon as possible after its state has established all necessary regulations for the implementation of the Common Reporting Standard, provide a notification to the Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee indicating the following:

A. That its state has appropriately established all necessary regulations for the implementation of the Common Reporting Standard and has determined the relevant effective dates regarding existing accounts, new accounts, and the application or completion of reporting and due diligence procedures.

B. Confirmation of whether its state will be included in Annex (A).

C. Identification of one or more methods for transmitting data, including the encryption in Annex (B).

D. Specification of protection procedures, if any, to safeguard personal data (Annex (C)).

E. Sufficient procedures have been established to ensure compliance with the required confidentiality standards and data protection procedures, and a completed confidentiality questionnaire and data protection procedures, which are included in Annex (D).

F. A list of the states of the competent authorities that it intends for this Agreement to be effective regarding after the national regulatory procedures (if any).

The competent authorities must notify the Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee urgently of any subsequent changes that need to be made to the aforementioned annexes.

1.2. This Agreement shall become effective between the two competent authorities on whichever of the following dates is later:

• 1. The date of notification from the second of the two competent authorities to the Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee. Paragraph (1) including the inclusion of the state of the other competent authority based on paragraph 1 (F).

• 2. The date the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance enters into force and is effective for both states.

2. The Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee shall maintain a list of the competent authorities that have signed the Agreement, and between which of these competent authorities this Agreement is effective (Annex E), and it shall be published on the website of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

3. The Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee shall publish the information provided by the competent authorities under subparagraphs 1 (1) and (B) on the OECD website. The information provided under subparagraphs (A) to (R) shall be made available to other signatories upon request to the Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee.

4. The competent authority may suspend the exchange of information under this Agreement by giving prior notice to the other competent authority that it has determined there is a material non-compliance with this Agreement by the second mentioned competent authority, and such suspension shall take effect immediately for the purposes of this Agreement. Material non-compliance includes, but is not limited to, non-compliance with the confidentiality provisions and data protection procedures of this Agreement and the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance. Failure of the competent authority to provide sufficient information in a timely manner under this Agreement or to define the status of entities or accounts as non-reporting financial institutions or excluded accounts in a manner that undermines the objectives of the Common Reporting Standard.

5. The competent authority may terminate its participation in this Agreement, or with respect to a specific competent authority, by giving written notice of termination to the Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee, such termination shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a 12-month period after the date of the termination notice. In the case of termination, all information received previously under this Agreement shall remain confidential and shall be subject to the terms of the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance.

1. Unless otherwise stated in these Agreements, the Secretariat of the Coordinating Authority shall notify all relevant authorities of any notifications received under this Agreement, as well as notify all signatories to this Agreement when a new relevant authority signs the Agreement.

2. All signatories to the Agreement shall equally share the expenses of managing the Agreement by the Secretariat of the Coordinating Authority on an annual basis. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, eligible countries are exempt from participating in the costs under Article (10) of the Procedural Rules of the Coordinating Authority for the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance.

Drafted in English and French, both of which are equally authoritative.

It was drafted in English and French, and both are equally authoritative.