British Prime Minister Gordon Brown welcomed on Friday moves from a number of countries and regions to close tax loopholes.

Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Andorra and Lichtenstein have all reached agreement with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on implementing international standards to stop tax evasion.

Brown hailed the announcement as "the beginning of the end of tax havens," according to a press release from the Downing Street.

The prime minister spoke to the Swiss president on Friday and urge his government to move quickly to adopt the standards.

"As Switzerland recognizes, it is now important for them to move swiftly to implementation and we look forward to working with them on this. Tax evasion -- which costs the global economy billions of pounds each year -- will become much more difficult in the future," said Brown.

The announcements were made ahead of next month's G20 summit in London, where Brown hopes to discuss the future of the global financial system.

(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2009)