Overseas Territories Support G8 Initiative on Tax, Trade and Transparency

LONDON, June 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

We, the Political Leaders of the Overseas Territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos, warmly welcome our meeting with the Prime Minister today to discuss Tax, Trade and Transparency, where we had a very clear agreement and constructive exchange of views on the practical steps needed to tackle the global problem of tax evasion and how the UK and the Overseas Territories will continue to apply our high standards of regulation to address this.

As part of our contribution to advancing this global agenda and to create a level playing field right across the world, different Overseas Territories at different times, and now unanimously, have reiterated and confirmed our agreement to the following three (3) important steps:

• To play an active part in the new pilot initiative of multilateral automatic tax information exchange launched by the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain;
• To prepare national action plans on Beneficial Ownership to meet the FATF standards;
• To commit to joining the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance on Tax Matters.

It is our collective view that as we free up the world economy we must make sure openness delivers benefits for rich economies and developing countries alike and that we maintain confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of our tax systems and in the operation of global markets. Tackling tax evasion and fraud is a global responsibility in which we will continue to play our full part.

We welcome the Prime Minister's willingness to work in partnership with us in seeking to achieve a step change in international standards and establishing a global level playing field through the UK's G8 Presidency.

As part of our continuing commitment to tackling tax evasion and fraud, we have also undertaken to prepare Action Plans setting out the concrete steps, where needed, to fully implement the Financial Action Task Force standards to further increase our already high standards of transparency on beneficial ownership information and to ensure that this information is available to law enforcement and tax authorities in accordance with our established mutual legal assistance cooperation regimes.

The Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters is an important global instrument, which builds upon our existing network of many bilateral agreements and other existing arrangements for exchanging information between tax authorities. The Convention offers an accessible route to increase the number of jurisdictions which will be able to benefit from information exchange. It is for this reason that we have committed to joining the Convention and have requested its extension to our jurisdictions as soon as possible, subject to our national procedures and the need for ensuring the achievement of a global level playing field.

We are committed to continuing to play a leading role in delivering a fair, responsible and effectively regulated global business environment.

We express the hope that the UK Prime Minister will succeed at Lough Erne in securing a new global standard and all Leaders will commit to move together on this common agenda designed to secure more economic growth.

Source: Political Leaders of the Overseas Territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos Islands