SVG Government Notes White Listing

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

14 April 2010

The government of St Vincent and the Grenadines has announced considerable progress on substantially implementing global tax standards on tax information exchange and transparency, which has secured the territory a place on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) ‘white list’.

The government said in a statement on April 9 that, following the signing of its most recent agreement with Germany, it has concluded a total of eighteen Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs), far exceeding the quota required to be deemed a ‘territory that has substantially implemented the internationally-agreed standard’.

“St Vincent and the Grenadines has been aiming to demonstrate its commitment to implementing internationally-agreed standards after it was ‘grey listed’ by the OECD in April 2009. [The government’s] objective of being de-listed by the OECD was successfully achieved as the country was ‘white-listed’ on March 24, 2010,” the statement informed.

“St. Vincent and the Grenadines expects to very shortly complete an additional TIEA with France, and has TIEA negotiations ongoing with Canada,” the government added.

Executive Director of the jurisdiction's International Financial Services Authority, Sharda Sinanan-Bollers, commented:

“The country’s white-listed status is very much welcomed by the local and international financial industry of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. [Prior to this, the island] was described as a ‘tax haven’ as a direct result of the OECD grey-listing. This was clearly a matter of grave concern for the jurisdiction. This is particularly so since the stigma of negative labelling is difficult to eradicate, and indeed has far-reaching reputational damage on developing economies such as ours.”

Recommended