HAMILTON, Bermuda – SHORTLY after Bermuda’s signing of its 12th Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the Netherlands on Monday (June 8), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) OECD has updated its progress report to add the island to its ‘white list’ of tax havens.
Bermuda, along with 29 other countries, was recently announced as ‘grey-listed’ because, although it had made commitments to the internationally-agreed tax standards, they were not substantially implemented in that country.
The Caribbean country’s upgrade to the IECD ‘white list’ puts Bermuda among other jurisdictions that have substantially implemented the internationally agreed tax standard. The OECD April 2 progress report was long-awaited and, according to Minister of Finance Paula Cox, the nation has been based on transparency and cooperation.
"Bermuda wholeheartedly endorsed the OECD's objective and is especially pleased to note that the April 2 progress report - or 'gray list’ - has now been updated and that Bermuda is now included in the revised 'white list'," Minister Cox said.
Bermuda has signed TIEAs with the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. Also, the country has concluded negotiations with Canada, Germany and Mexico, and negotiations with Japan are nearing completion.
Minister Cox confirmed that the government is “closing in on its goal to have TIEA's in place with all G7 countries” and with other internationally significant trading and commerce partners.
"We will now continue to build upon our long-standing position of transparency and cooperation which has, through the years, differentiated Bermuda from other jurisdictions," Cox concluded.
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