OECD Commends Bermuda On Nordic/NZ TIEAs

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

21 April 2009

Bermuda has signed 8 new tax information exchange agreements, with 7 Nordic economies – Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands and with New Zealand, bringing the number of agreements it holds to eleven. It had previously signed agreements with Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Bermuda was one of the first jurisdictions to commit to the international standards of transparency and exchange of information in May 2000, and one of 11 jurisdictions that contributed to the development of the Model Agreement on Exchange of Information in Tax Matters in 2002, on which the bilateral agreements with the Nordic economies are based. Since then it has been working to develop its network of exchange of information agreements.

The latest agreements mark a further acceleration in international efforts to implement the standards developed by the OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information, which brings together both OECD and non-OECD economies to review issues relating to the implementation of international standards in these areas. Over the last few weeks, a number of economies - including in Asia, Europe and Latin America, as well as the Caribbean - have announced plans to remove impediments to the exchange of bank information for tax purposes and to implement the international standards within specific time frames.

Commenting on the recent signings, Jeffrey Owens, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said: “ Bermuda is an important financial centre that played a constructive role in developing the standards now endorsed by all major financial centres. I am very pleased that it has taken another significant step in implementing the standards. I know that it is determined to implement the standards fully and that other agreements will follow shortly.”

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