The UK government yesterday signed an agreement to exchange tax data with Switzerland. The protocol meets the standard demanded by the OECD model double taxation convention, and covers all UK taxes. The UK has already signed nine comprehensive tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) with Bermuda, Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos Islands, Liechtenstein and Gibraltar. The UK has also signed an arrangement with the Cayman Islands that provides, among other things, for information exchange to OECD standards. As signatory to the protocol, financial secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms commented: 'The days when hiding money offshore represented a viable means of evading UK tax are rapidly drawing to a close.'