The governments of Argentina, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay have joined forces to create a Latin American initiative to tackle tax evasion and corruption by making sharing and making better use of the information exchanged under international tax transparency standards.

The countries have agreed to “consider the possibility” of making a wider use of the information provided through exchange of tax information channels for other law enforcement purposes as permitted under the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and domestic laws and advancing more effective and real-time access to beneficial ownership information across Latin America.

The  Punta del Este Declaration, signed by participating ministers on November 19 in Uruguay, also sets forth that  these four countries would also carry out a self-assessment

Mexico is not one of the signatories of the Punta del Este Declaration. However, President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised a clear anti-corruption agenda, in a move supported by the OECD.