The Swiss Federal Council Oct. 22 opened a consultation on a protocol to the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Agreement with the EU, signed Oct. 20. The protocol includes measures to: 1) incorporate amendments to the OECD common reporting standard (CRS) for AEOI on financial accounts; 2) provisionally apply provisions on establishing a joint committee to provide mutual administrative assistance in the recovery of VAT claims between Switzerland and the EU; 3) update data protection provisions to reflect Swiss and EU law; and 4) maintain the withholding tax exemption for affiliated companies. Comments are due Feb. 6, 2026. [Switzerland, Government ...