France Removes Bermuda from Tax Blacklist

HAMILTON, Bermuda, December 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The Hon. E.T. (Bob) Richards J.P., M.P., Minister of Finance, announced today that the French Ministry of Finance has informed the French Association of Financial Management (AFG) that "Jersey and Bermuda have been informed that they will be removed from the list for 2014, which means that the retaliation measures provided for by law will not be applied."  The French Ministry of Finance has also directly informed the Bermuda Ministry of Finance.

Minister Richards offered his gratitude to French officials for facilitating the meeting earlier this year between French and Bermudian Ministry of Finance officials, adding that officials from Bermuda are "pleased that Bermuda has now been delisted".

Minister Richards said: "I was impressed with the goodwill shown by French officials in working with Bermuda officials to resolve the matter before the end of the year. We were confident that any entry on France's list would be very short-lived as Bermuda is globally recognised as complying with the highest international standards on tax transparency and compliance."

Minister Richards added, "I wish to thank His Excellency the Governor of Bermuda and British Officials including the Chancellor of the Exchequer in London who gave us support behind the scenes."

Yesterday Bermuda signed the US FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement to assist the US to fight against tax evasion.

In September 2013, Bermuda joined the OECD Multilateral Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters to facilitate cooperation between jurisdictions in the assessment and collection of taxes, in particular to combat tax avoidance and evasion. This means Bermuda is now among the leading international financial centers with transparency agreements as Bermuda now has over 60 tax transparency agreements when counting both bilateral and multilateral agreement partners.

Notes to Editors

About Bermuda:

Bermuda is a self-governing British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean covering approximately 21 square miles with an estimated population of 64,867.  

The economy of Bermuda is based primarily on international business and tourism; in 2012 these sectors represented approximately 25.1% and 5.4%, respectively, of Bermuda's estimated nominal GDP of $5.47 billion. The Government estimates that in 2012 the tourism sector accounted for about 16% of employment. The estimated per capita nominal GDP in 2012 was $84,402, one of the highest in the world.

Bermuda is a leading international financial centre and is considered the risk capital of the world with insurance assets accounting for over 60% of all financial activity. It contributes up to 100,000 jobs to the UK economy and, as a result of its robust but flexible regulatory system and consumption-based tax system, large numbers of leading international insurance companies operate in Bermuda.

The territory has taken the lead in transparency and cooperation on international taxation matters with 40 Tax Information Exchange Agreements with 90% of the G20 and 76% of OECD and 52% of EU member states.

Bermuda is rated AA- by Fitch Ratings Agency, Aa3 by Moody's Investor Service and AA- by Standard and Poor's.