International Awards Instituted In OECD/Offshore Imbroglio

by Jeremy Hetherington-Gore, Tax-News.com, London

24 May 2001

Adding a rare touch of humour to the somewhat dour process of confrontation between the God-like OECD and the raggle-taggle pack of offshore jurisdictions which it has been tormenting, the Centre for Freedom and Prosperity has instituted two international prizes for people it sees as stars or boobies in the interminable back-and-forth that is defining the future of 'offshore'.

The CFP Halls of Fame and Shame have as their first occupants (for Fame) Antiguan Prime Minister Lester Bird and High Commissioner Sir Ronald Sanders, while Shame is ladled out to Richard Hammer, Chairman of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee of the OECD's Business and Industry Advisory Committee.

Here is the CFP's announcement and explanation of its new awards:

'Fighting on the front lines of this issue, we have learned to appreciate strong allies. We also have learned that there are many who are willing to capitulate for personal advantage. As a result, we thought this would be a good time to launch an "Unsung Hero Award" and a "Benedict Arnold Award" for those whose actions demand special recognition.

'These awards, which will be an occasional feature of our weekly update, are designed to help the broader community get a better appreciation of the behind-the-scenes battle.

'The "Unsung Hero Award" goes to the person, institution, or government that has demonstrated special valor and commitment in the fight to preserve tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty. The first winner of this award is the government of Antigua and Barbuda. More specifically, Prime Minister Lester Bird and High Commission Sir Ronald Sanders have played a critical role in this fight. The Prime Minister's courage helped ensure that the Caribbean jurisdictions resisted the OECD's fiscal colonialism. Sir Ronald Sanders, meanwhile, has been an effective voice in London and elsewhere for the principles of freedom and competition. We also owe a special debt to Sir Ronald. It was his trip to Washington almost one year ago that helped trigger the events that led to the founding of the Center (okay, we may be a little biased as a result, but Sir Ronald deserves praise for everything else he has accomplished as well). Congratulations.

'The "Benedict Arnold Award," named after America's infamous Revolutionary War traitor, goes to the person, institution, or government that has demonstrated a special cowardice or incompetence in the fight to preserve tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty. As such, it does not go to those who started on the wrong side, have stayed on the wrong side, and always will remain on the wrong side (i.e., the government of France). Instead, it goes to someone who should be on the right side, but winds up aiding the forces of statism through either incompetence or venality. The first winner of this award is Richard Hammer, Chairman of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee of the OECD's Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC). Mr. Hammer in 1999 helped oversee the publication of a BIAC report that was appropriately critical of the OECD anti-competition initiative (still available on the www.biac.org website). Earlier this year, however, Mr. Hammer did an about-face and co-authored an article endorsing the OECD's attack on tax competition. For selling out the interests of the business community - and for switching sides just as the OECD effort is falling apart, Mr. Hammer truly has earned the "Benedict Arnold Award." Congratulations.

The CFP Halls of Fame and Shame web page:
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/hall/hall.shtml

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