Cayman Islands gets support for stance against European Union
The Cayman Islands decision not to sign on to the European Union's (EU) Draft Directive on the Taxation of Savings, has received support from Antigua's High Commissioner to London, Sir Ronald Saunders.
His support for the Cayman Islands' position
was contained in a letter to the Secretary General of the Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mr. Donald Johnston,
expressing concern that a level playing field no longer exists
among OECD and non-OECD
Sir Ronald said: "The Government of Antigua and Barbuda shares
the view expressed recently by the Government of Panama and the
Leader of Government Business in the Cayman Islands that the conditionality
of a 'level playing field' amongst participating members of the
Global Forum no longer exists."
Furthermore, he said, "in common with Panama, the Cayman Islands and many other participating nations engaged in the Global Forum process, the concept of a 'level playing field' was central to the good faith participation of Antigua and Barbuda in the whole OECD harmful tax exercise, and indeed was a specific, written condition of our participation," he said.
The letter was dispatched to Mr. Johnston last Friday in the light of the recent statement by the Presidency of the European Union that certain OECD member countries have been granted until 2011 to implement exchange of information provisions on tax matters -- seven years more than non-OECD members, who also make up a Global Forum dealing with tax matters.
Sir Ronald, a leading Caribbean spokesman on financial services, be-lieves there is need for further review of the position by the OECD, which comprises 30 of the world's richest countries that have issued a set of criteria for determining whether or not a country is a "tax haven".
"You may wish to consider the necessity of convening a special meeting of the Global Forum early in the New Year to inform all participants of the situation in regard to the position of certain EU member states and to examine whether or not a sufficient consensus remains to render the work of the OECD Secretariat in the Global Forum viable in the months ahead," he said in the letter.