Hong Kong and the United States Tuesday signed an agreement on exchange of tax information.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury,K C Chan, on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region( HKSAR) government, signed the agreement with the US consul general to Hong Kong and Macao, Clifford A Hart on behalf of US government.

It is the first tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) signed by Hong Kong, after the legal framework for entering into TIEAs with other jurisdictions was put in place in July last year.

Chan said the signing of the TIEA with the US demonstrates Hong Kong's continued commitment to fulfill its international obligations on promoting tax transparency.

Chan added, "The TIEA with the US has adopted highly prudent safeguard measures to protect taxpayers' privacy and confidentiality of information exchanged."

The TIEA will become effective after Hong Kong has completed the necessary legislative procedures for bringing the agreement into force.