By Joann Santiago
BAGAC, Bataan, June 10 (PNA) — An official of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) urged the Philippine government to reconsider its Bank Secrecy Law.
Richard Parry, head of OECD’s Global Relations Division in the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said G20 countries have abolished their laws on bank secrecy to align it with international standards.
He said the Philippine government needs to have a legislation in place to meet global standards on transparency.
“Bank secrecy is dead,” he said in a briefing at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Workshop on Fiscal Management Through Transparency and Reforms held June 9-10 at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan.
Parry pointed out that political will is what the government needs to meet new global standards.
He said the Philippine government has been very active in joining efforts to improve global standards on taxation among others but needs to also focus on its bank secrecy regulations.
He explained that in order for the country to have information exchanges with other countries it has to change its transparency level on this issue since having enough information is the first step in addressing challenges in tax administration globally.
Other key steps are for a country to know how to deal with the information as well as how to share the information with other countries.
“Transparency is the key to all of these,” he stressed.
Parry said delegates of the APEC workshop tackled key issues such as tax crimes and other financial crimes such as money laundering and corruption.
He disclosed that about 3.6 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) is lost to illegal financial flows
It is not easy for governments to tackle these issues especially if there is lack of transparency, he said.
Thus, the delegates discussed “opportunities on areas of governance to combat tax fraud.”
Transparency, he said, will allow governments to assess risks. (PNA)