Bahamas And US Sign Information Sharing Agreement

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

30 January 2002

It was announced this week that The Bahamas have signed an information exchange agreement with the United States in order to allow both countries to pursue tax evaders and money launderers more effectively.

The agreement, which follows the establishment of similar arrangements between the US and Antigua, Barbuda, and the Cayman Islands, marks the latest stage in the Bush administration's campaign to clamp down on terrorist financing. It will allow the US Internal Revenue Service to pierce stringent banking secrecy rules in the Bahamas in certain circumstances.

However, in a retrospective of 2001 published in late December, CEO and Executive Director of the Bahamas Financial Services Board, Wendy Warren, warned that the co-operation demonstrated by the Caribbean jurisdiction in the international fight against money laundering has not changed the country's fundamental perspective on financial privacy.

'The Bahamas will continue to co-operate with all who seek to fight money laundering, fraud, international terrorism and other serious crimes. At the same time, this does not diminish the fundamental fact that The Bahamas is wedded to the belief that law-abiding persons and entities have a right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to the conduct of their affairs,' she stated.

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