Monthly Newsletter

Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau have welcomed an article by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) commending Hong Kong's transparent tax system and its efforts to comply with international standards on the exchange of tax information.

The article was written by the director of the organization's Centre for Tax Policy & Administration in Paris, Jeffrey Owens.

"Hong Kong has built its position as an international financial centre on the basis of free markets, low tax rates and a transparent tax system. Under the OECD criteria, Hong Kong is not considered a tax haven," Mr Owens said in his article.

On the Financial Secretary's announcement in the 2009-10 Budget to align Hong Kong's exchange of tax information arrangement with international standards, Mr Owens said that Hong Kong was the first major financial centre in the region to make such a move and other Asian countries have since followed its lead.