Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg said today that they would abide by OECD rules and cooperate on sharing information about customers with other countries on a case-by-case basis, but not automatically, as many countries want.
"The decision will permit the exchange of information with other countries in individual cases where a specific and justified request has been made," the Swiss government said.
Switzerland will now cooperate in cases of suspected tax evasion, at least once double taxation agreements are renegotiated with other countries, which could take time. It also said it could seek an amnesty for existing clients.
Andorra and Liechtenstein on Thursday and now the big three in Europe, all were on a list presented to the G20 this week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of financial centers where it deems bank secrecy rules to be too favorable for tax evasion.
