Jamaica has emerged as the only “partially compliant” jurisdiction out of ten countries in the latest peer review by the OECD’s Global Forum to determine the transparency of beneficial ownership information.

Australia and Canada meanwhile need to keep up with the latest international standards according to the forum.

Jamaican rating

Jamaica was rated partially compliant by the OECD, which cited a lack of a legal framework to ensure that beneficial ownership information is maintained and available.

The Global Forum says it will launch a supplementary report on follow-up measures required to ensure Jamaica reaches a higher level of compliance.

Other results

Ireland, Mauritius and Norway received the highest possible overall rating of “compliant” while Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Germany and Qatar were rated “largely compliant.”

Both Canada and Australia scored less in this latest study compared their 2011 review because they failed to implement new standards on the availability of ownership identity and other accounting information.

Common Reporting Standard

The Global Forum was created in the early 2000s to address the risks to tax compliance posed by non-cooperative jurisdictions while using locations where beneficial ownership compliance is poor is a major feature in several types of trade-based financial crime.

The forum’s members are collaborating to monitor and review implementation of the international standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information under the Common Reporting Standard, which is due to start this month.