Finance ministers and Central Bank governors to meet expeditiously

Mar 04, 2018 News

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Finance Minister and Governors of the Central Banks in the Caribbean are to meet “expeditiously” to consider new proposals as regional government continue to react to decisions by Europe in listing some countries as tax havens.

The communiqué issued at the end of the 29^th Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Inter-Sessional summit that ended in Haiti earlier this week, noted that the proposals on a CARICOM Strategy had been prepared by a CARICOM Technical Working Group.

It said the leaders had mandated the finance ministers and central bank governors “to formulate appropriate solutions to overcome this egregious challenge”.

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, speaking in Port of Spain following his return from Port au Prince, told reporters that Caribbean countries were being “threatened” by the unilateral decision of the European Union to “blacklist” several islands, including his own as tax havens, even as the region has tried to comply with the necessary legislative requirements.

“We have been threatened by the EU to ensure we comply by what they want. There is an urgency to enact legislation so that we can comply as quickly as possible,” Rowley said, adding that all countries must have at least tabled, if not completed, the necessary legislative programme by the time the leaders meet in Jamaica for their annual summit in July. The legislative requirements include anti-terrorism laws and stronger tax reports.

“We did not expect the EU to treat us like that. It is not quite accurate. We have been complying and trying to meet the requirements,” Rowley said, after Europe last December issued a list of “non-cooperative jurisdiction for tax purposes,” that included Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados and St Lucia. The EU has since removed Grenada and Barbados from the list.

According to the communiqué, regional leaders “deplored” the significant reputational damage inflicted on member states from their inclusion in the list of ‘non-cooperative tax jurisdictions’ published by the European Union Council in December 2017 as well as other unilateral processes which label member states as ‘tax havens”.

It said that the leaders noted that these actions are occurring outside of the established global inclusive processes which CARICOM states have endorsed and in which they continue to participate, often at significant cost, to advance the implementation of agreed international standards domestically.

“They recognised the need for member states to continue to ensure that they meet all requisite standards set by the globally recognised authorities in respect of global tax co-operation and related initiatives. However, they denounced the unilateral processes underway in the European Union as detrimental to member states’ economic progress and efforts to achieve sustainable development. They agreed that they should forge links beyond CARICOM because of shifting global standards,” the communiqué noted.

It said the leaders have since mandated that finance ministers and Central Bank governors meet expeditiously on the matter and “acknowledged the importance of regional advocacy efforts and agreed to continue engaging international partners and raising the issues at various international fora.

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