TAXAND Germany hosted a Global Conference on “Transparency and the Brave New World of Information Exchange” in Frankfurt on 3-5 May, 2017. Various panels discussed the dramatic increase in governmental requirements for disclosure of tax information in recent years. This has come in the form of greater formal demands from governments and the public, such as under FATCA and automatic exchange of information under the activities of the Global Forum, country by country reporting, obligatory reporting of aggressive tax planning, and public reporting of tax strategies in the UK. It has also come in less formal ways through such developments as the infamous Lux Leaks, Bahamas Leaks and Panama Papers.

Dr Parthasarathi Shome and Mr. Mukesh Butani of ITRAF participated in a particular panel on exchange of information and tax transparency. The complete panel included Mr. Butani, Member, ITRAF, Member of the Taxand Board, and Chairman BMR Advisors, which is Taxand India, Mr. Hans Georg Raber, Chairman of the ‘Customs and Excise’ Committee of the Federation of German Automotive Industry (VDA), Mr. Romain Tiffon, Partner at ATOZ Tax Advisers, which is Taxand Luxembourg, Dr.Parthasarathi Shome, Chairman, International Tax Research and Analysis Foundation (ITRAF), India, and Mr. Richard Syratt, Managing Director with Alvarez &Marsal Taxand, London.