According to the report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this second assessment builds on the 2022 Phase 1 report, which examined the adequacy of Gabon's legal framework, by this time reviewing the standard's practical implementation, including requests for information received and sent between 1 October 2021 and 30 September 2024, based on the legal framework in force as of 5 January 2026.
The report rates each element separately: availability of information on beneficial owners and identity, as well as accounting and banking information, is rated partially compliant; accounting and banking information had been rated compliant in 2016. Access to information, the rights and safeguards of taxpayers, confidentiality, and rights and safeguards in exchange remain compliant, while the quality and timeliness of responses and requests is rated largely compliant. However, the exchange of information mechanisms and the corresponding network of agreements are rated non-compliant, having been compliant in 2016.
The report notes progress since the previous assessment, including the 2025 General Tax Code's introduction of a requirement to keep records, documents and supporting papers, including accounting records, for at least ten years after an entity's dissolution, and new 2024 CEMAC regulations and 2023 Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) rules clarifying the criteria for identifying beneficial owners, although the report's authors say gaps remain.
