Switzerland and Canada on Friday signed a new taxation agreement during a visit to Berne by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, weeks after Harper vowed to hunt down tax cheats with Swiss accounts. Swiss Finance Minister Hans Rudolf Merz and Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Josee Vernier "signed today in Berne a protocol on the convention on dual taxation," Merz's ministry said in a statement.
The agreement is among a series of bolstered bilateral tax deals the Swiss have been signing to fall into line with international OECD standards by granting other countries greater leeway to obtain information on secret Swiss bank accounts in tax cases. Harper, who is on his way to a summit of francophone nations in Switzerland, attended the signing ceremony during a working visit to Berne.