As expected, Bermuda has been removed from the European Union’s blacklist of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions
Finance Minister confirmed it in the House of Assembly on Friday.
The EU now lists Bermuda on a “greylist” following a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels.
“I am pleased with the rapid conclusion of the Ecofin delisting Bermuda at its very first meeting after March 12,” said Mr Dickinson.
“This is by no means the end of the work required to continue strengthening the framework in this area.
“Bermuda continues to be a leader in insurance and other financial services and so that comes with a responsibility to be ahead of the curve in terms of regulation and best practice,” he added.
In a Ministerial Statement, he said: “The Premier and I, on behalf of the people of Bermuda, wish to thank the members of Ecofin, as well as the EU officials that we met during those critical end of March, early April meetings, for their work in progressing Bermuda’s removal from the list at the earliest opportunity.
“We will build on our experiences to date and appropriately take the required steps to ensure that Bermuda remains a jurisdiction of choice for quality and compliant business that positively contributes to the economic and social development of Bermuda.”
He noted that the greylist is reserved for jurisdictions with “tax regimes that facilitate offshore structures that generate profits without real economic activity” with sufficient commitments to reform their tax policies.
According to the Minister, the Bermuda Government has pledged to address the concerns by the end of this year.
The island was placed on the blacklist on March 12 after what the Premier described as a “drafting error” in the regulations submitted to the EU.
As it stands now, 12 jurisdiction remain the blacklist, including Belize, Dominica, Fiji, Guam, American Samoa, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Oman, Trinidad & Tobago, the United Arab Emirate, Vanatu and the US Virgin Islands.
