The investment world is changing and having to adapt to an environment where there is far greater focus on openness and transparency.Already this year the OECD [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development] has announced further plans to move to a new single global standard for the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities worldwide, one of a series of reforms which will serve as a platform for mobilising money transparently and allow greater global investment, which Jersey strongly welcomes.OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria described the Common Reporting Standard as “a real game changer” which would put governments back on a more even footing as they seek to protect the integrity of their tax systems and fight tax evasion. More than 40 countries have already committed to the early adoption of the new standard, including both India and Jersey.India has also been actively working to sign tax agreements with many of the key finance jurisdictions, including the authorities in Jersey who signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) in 2011.Furthermore in February 2012, India ratified the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (the OECD Convention) and was the first non-OECD country to do so. Similarly, the convention also comes into force in Jersey on June 1, 2014.Jersey has always been supportive of the global drive towards transparency, as long as it is done on a level playing field through workable global standards. Balancing the cost of compliance and the legitimate rights of citizens to an appropriate level of privacy is also an important part of the debate, which affects all countries.Last summer Jersey, the other Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories were given the backing of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said it was unfair to label them as tax havens because of their commitment to fair and open tax systems and that it was time to turn our attention to those locations that really were tax havens. This support was reinforced again this year by Gurria, who underlined the strides made by the Crown Dependencies to demonstrate their commitment to the adoption of international standards of transparency and combatting fraudulent flows of money.It is evident that jurisdictions which fail to act or are slow to respond to this changing landscape of information exchange are likely to suffer significant reputational damage, which in turn is likely to lead to legitimate investors moving their funds to locations which adhere to the proper international standards.Indian investors would undoubtedly wish to do business in the best regulated international finance centres, rather than those which are struggling to meet such standards or are reluctant to commit to the new information exchange criteria.Richard Corrigan is Global Head of Business Development at Jersey Finance. Through his extended team in London, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and India representative offices, he helps support member firms in a number of international growth markets. The above article was published in India Inc′s print edition of the India Investment Journal launched in April 2014 in conjunction with the Global Wealth Management Conclave 2014.