Automatic exchange of information

From the OECD standard to the Swiss statute

The automatic exchange of financial account information is the instrument that ended the economic function of banking secrecy towards Italy. The OECD published the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) in 2014 as part of its Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information. The European Union incorporated it into the Directive on Administrative Cooperation by Council Directive 2014/107/EU of 9 December 2014, which obliged the Member States, Italy included, to exchange data from 2017 onwards concerning the year 2016.¹ Switzerland chose a later timetable. On 19 November 2014 it signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) under the Council of Europe and OECD Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. On 18 December 2015 the Federal Assembly approved the Convention, the MCAA and the Federal Act on the International Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters (AEOI Act, SR 653.1).² The statute and the ordinance implementing it entered into force on 1 January 2017.

Switzerland was among the 47 states that undertook to collect data from 2017 and exchange them from 2018, while 54 states had committed to the earlier timetable.³ With the European Union the legal basis was the bilateral agreement signed in Brussels on 27 May 2015, which replaced the savings agreement of 2004 and provided for the collection of account data from 2017 and their exchange from 2018.⁴ Italy therefore received Swiss data under the EU-Swiss agreement and sent its own data to Switzerland under the same agreement. The retention tax on interest disappeared with the old agreement. With it ended the choice between anonymous taxation and disclosure that had characterized the period from 2005 to 2016.

What the banks report

Under the AEOI Act and the agreement with the European Union, a Swiss reporting financial institution must identify the tax residence of its account holders and, for passive entities, of the controlling persons. For each reportable account it transmits annually to the Federal Tax Administration the identity of the holder (name, address, tax residence, tax identification number, date and place of birth). It also reports the account number, the balance or value at the end of the calendar year and the gross amounts of interest, dividends, other income and sale proceeds credited.⁵ The Federal Tax Administration forwards the data to the competent authority of the state of residence, in Italy the Agenzia delle Entrate, by the end of September of the following year. The data concerning the year 2017 were thus exchanged in September 2018.

The coverage is wide. Banks, custodial institutions, certain insurance companies and investment entities, including many trusts and asset managers that manage financial assets for others, are reporting financial institutions. Domiciliary companies, foundations and trusts that hold accounts at Swiss banks are looked through when they qualify as passive non-financial entities, in which case their controlling persons are reported.⁶ In 2025 Switzerland transmitted information on some 3.8 million accounts to its partner states and received information on some 3.5 million accounts held abroad by Swiss residents. About 9,000 financial institutions are registered for reporting purposes.⁷ The Federal Tax Administration does not publish a breakdown by partner state, so the number of Italian accounts reported is not public. In view of the history of Italian money in Ticino, Italy is likely to be among the most important recipients.

Notes

1. Council Directive 2014/107/EU of 9 December 2014 amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation, OJ L 359 of 16 December 2014, p. 1, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/107/oj. Law No. 95 of 18 June 2015, Gazzetta Ufficiale No. 155 of 7 July 2015, https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/gazzetta/serie_generale/caricaDettaglio? dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=2015-07-07&numeroGazzetta=155, ratified the FATCA agreement with the United States and laid down the obligations of Italian financial institutions for the automatic exchange. OECD, Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters (Paris 2014), and the Italian ministerial decree of 28 December 2015 implementing the CRS. ↩
2. Federal Department of Finance, Bericht über die Ergebnisse des Vernehmlassungsverfahrens zur Verordnung über den internationalen automatischen Informationsaustausch in Steuersachen (AIAV), 23 November 2016, https://www.newsd.admin.ch/newsd/message/attachments/46252.pdf (MCAA signed on 19 November 2014; adoption by the Federal Assembly on 18 December 2015; entry into force on 1 January 2017 planned). ↩
3. Federal Department of Finance, report of 23 November 2016 (above), stating that 101 states and territories had committed to the standard by 26 July 2016. ↩
4. Swiss Federal Council, press release of 27 May 2015, https://www.admin.ch/de/nsb?id=57397 ("ab 2017 Kontodaten zu erheben und ab 2018 auszutauschen"). ↩
5. Federal Act on the International Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters of 18 December 2015 (AEOI Act), SR 653.1, droit-bilingue.ch, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/6/65/653.1-index.html; Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the European Union on the automatic exchange of financial account information, SR 0.641.926.81, Art. 2, which refers to the reporting and due diligence rules of Annexes I and II, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/0.6/0.64/0.641.926.81-2-5.html. Annex I, Section I (reporting requirements). ↩
6. AEOI agreement with the EU (above), Annex I, Sections VI and VIII (passive non-financial entities and controlling persons). ↩
7. finews.ch, 10 October 2025 (above). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.