As the European Union continues under the new Greek presidency to try to salvage its Savings Tax Directive (which would see financial institutions sending information to the home state tax authorities of their depositors) against resistance from Switzerland and the US, smaller European low-tax jurisdictions which would be swept along in the wake of the new regime worry about the outcome. But apparently not too much:
Marc Forne, the prime minister of Andorra, told Reuters in an interview last month: "The whole thing does not end with Andorra, Monaco or Liechtenstein. I would like to know what other countries like the United States, Singapore and Taiwan think about the fiscal directive on saving, because money is volatile and if in the end Europe applies the directive it will see capital flee to these other countries."
Andorra, high in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, has banks which are a byword for secrecy - even the size of the territory's banking assets is unknown. Although tourism - meaning duty-free sales of tobacco, alcohol and gasoline to more than 13 million visitors a year - accounts for 80% of the national economy, the absence of any taxes make the territory's banks a magnet for the over-taxed French and Spanish.
Andorra is one of four smaller European territories which, together with the UK's offshore dependencies, will be obliged to go along with the Savings Tax Directive if the dam formed by Switzerland and the US gives way. Mr Forne says that the facilities they offer would simply be replaced by banking centres elsewhere in the world (Panama and Vanuatu for instance), so that the EU's attempt to clamp down on its citizens' tax avoidance (not a crime in Andorra) is futile.
Individually, Europe's offshore territories may be small in comparison to Switzerland, but together they account for a formidable amount of money in terms of bank deposits - perhaps around a trillion dollars, rivalling Switzerland's total. The millions of depositors this represents are watching and waiting: if it begins to seem that the Savings Tax Directive will come into force, get ready for one of the biggest financial migrations of all time!
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