Bahamian Attorney General Alfred Sears has confirmed that an Act allowing bilateral tax and information exchange with the United States is in its first draft. It will commit the two nations to sharing information on criminal matters by 2004 and on civil proceedings by 2006.
Tax and Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) are considered an essential weapon in the ongoing fight against money laundering, terrorism and general financial crime, said Mr Sears, talking to the Bahamas Institute of Financial Services, but added that any other OECD nation seeking a TIEA with the Bahamas would have to engage in similar bi-lateral negotiations.
The Bahamas remains committed to selling itself as a "responsible and significant player" in the international finance industry Sears assured the banking representatives.
The Attorney General explained that there a number of main commitments in the broader area of transparency that the Bahamas must adhere to. These include: revealing when required beneficial ownership information to the tax authorities in the case of companies, partnerships and trusts; maintaining audited accounts to internationally accepted standards; and allowing access to banking data for the Bahamian authorities in respect of the TIEA rules.
Addressing concerns that these extra regulations will cause a flight of capital away from the country, Sears repeated that the government expects competing jurisdictions to have similar commitments in place by the time the Bahamas is required to implement these provisions.
A comprehensive report describing the regulatory regime in most key offshore jurisdictions, with an emphasis on the survival of banking secrecy, is available in the Tax News Reports Shop at http://www.tax-news.com/reportshop/
Network Tweets
Network BlogsContent
provided by
|
Archive | Resources | Partners | Site Map | Links | Newsletter Archive | Contact | RSS Feeds | About | Syndication | Advertising & Marketing | Recruitment | Terms & Conditions | Privacy
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Tax-News.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Tax-News.com has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.
Write a comment