UK Claims Its Offshore Territories Are 'Top Drawer'

Jeremy Hetherington-Gore, Tax-news.com, London

17 March 2000

The UK Government yesterday claimed that its offshore dependent territories were in the top division of IOFCs (International Offshore Financial Centres). The Government said that Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man had accepted most of the recommendations of the Edwards report. "The Edwards report was not left to gather dust on the shelves," said Lord Bassam, home office minister. "It has been actively pursued by the islands."

The Edwards report, commissioned by the Government in 1998, although largely complimentary about the dependent territories, presented a series of recommendations for reform and was widely seen as an attempt by the Government to head off gathering storm-clouds in the EU and the OECD under the banners of 'harmful tax practices' and 'unfair tax competition'.

The Government reiterated yesterday that it has no axe to grind for use against IOFCs that live from low-tax financial services, as long as they conform to accepted international regulatory standards. But that's where the problems start, because 'accepted standards' in Hamilton, London and Brussels are three rather different animals.

Nonethetheless, the Government may be right in thinking that its offshore islands have done enough to survive in more or less their present form

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