Over 250 delegates from 93 countries, regions and international organizations took part in the fourth general meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes held in Paris, France on 25-26 October 2011. A total of 17 review reports of different countries and regions, including the Phase I review report of Macao SAR, were adopted in the meeting. The report of Macao SAR was already published and posted on the OECD's official website, signifying that Macao SAR met internationally agreed standards on transparency and exchange of information on tax matters. The Phase I Review mainly focused on whether the region's current legal and regulatory framework was sufficient and could effectively guarantee the implementation of tax information exchange. It covered a number of legislation including Commercial Code, Commercial Registry Code, Civil Code, Offshore Business Act, anti-money laundering regulations and guidelines, tax laws, Financial System Act, as well as Information Exchange Act. Macao SAR would have to continually fulfill relevant international requirements to ensure that measures on enhancing tax transparency and exchange of information are being effectively carried out. Meanwhile, in an effort to facilitate the Global Forum's Phase II review of Macao SAR scheduled on the first half of year 2013 on the implementation of information exchange standards in practice, Macao SAR would study and follow up the suggestions for improvement made in the Phase I report shortly afterwards.
