Luxembourg and Singapore sign tax agreement

(CS) On the sidelines of the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington this week, Luxembourg and Singapore signed an agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal fraud.

The agreement was signed in Washington DC on October 9 by Finance Minister Luc Frieden and Singapore's Finance Minister and Vice-PM Tharman Shanmigaratnam.

The new agreement comes after Luxembourg demanded to amend an article on the exchange of information to render it conform with OECD standards.

Additionally, the new agreement, which replaces the 1993 version, will clarify the situation of mutual funds based in either country.

According to an official statement by the Luxembourg Finance Ministry “this agreement not only reflects the good relationship between Luxembourg and Singapore, but also the major importance of the development of the international activities of Luxembourg's financial centre.”

Frieden is in Washington to chair the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in his role of President of the monetary fund's Board of Governors. Frieden is the first Luxembourg national to chair the meetings.

He was elected to the post, which the minister has called “a great honour for Luxembourg” by Europe's Finance Ministers in October 2012.

Finance Ministers from around the world, as well as key players from the private sector will meet until Friday to discuss big issues connected to the world economy, from the fight against poverty, economic growth and effectiveness of financial aid.