Bahamas Achieves White-Listing

by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

12 March 2010

The Bahamas has achieved a place on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD's) ‘white list’ following the signing of Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with the seven Nordic economies of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, on March 10.

The Bahamas had previously signed eleven such agreements – including agreements with important regional and economic partners Mexico, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The agreements with the Nordic Council brings the Bahamas' tally of agreements that adhere to the internationally agreed standard on transparency and tax information exchange to 18. For the purposes of the OECD progress report on the implementation of the standard, jurisdictions having signed at least 12 such agreements are considered to have substantially implemented that standard. Accordingly, the Bahamas now moves onto the 'white list', becoming the 22nd jurisdiction to do so since the progress report was first issued in April 2009.

The Bahamas is a member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and an active member of the Global Forum’s Peer Review Group, and it is participating in a peer review of its laws and practices in this area.

Welcoming the territory’s white-listing, Jeffrey Owens, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said: “Given the role that the Bahamas plays in the financial world, I am particularly pleased that they have made significant progress and they continue to expand their network of partners with whom they can exchange tax information.”

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