All British overseas territories with significant financial centres have now signed up to “greater levels of transparency” of accounts held in those jurisdictions, HM Treasury announced on 2 May.
All British overseas territories with significant financial centres have now signed up to “greater levels of transparency” of accounts held in those jurisdictions, HM Treasury announced on 2 May.
The development marked "a turning point in the fight against tax evasion and illicit finance".
Noting that the Cayman Islands told the UK government last month that it was committed to joining the G5 pilot on multilateral automatic exchange of tax information, George Osborne welcomed new commitments from Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands to pilot automatic exchange “bilaterally with the UK and multilaterally with the G5”.
“Gibraltar, which already operates the relevant transparency directives as part of the EU, has also made the same commitments,” the Treasury said.
“The agreement will mean that the UK, along with other countries involved in the pilot, will be automatically provided with much greater levels of information about bank accounts held by their taxpayers in these jurisdictions. This includes names, addresses, dates of birth, account numbers, account balances and details of payments made into those accounts.
“This also includes information on certain accounts held by entities, such as trusts.”
It added: “The Isle of Man – the first non-US jurisdiction to agree to greater exchange of information with the UK – has also agreed to join the multilateral initiative. Guernsey too has also expressed a strong interest in engaging with the pilot.
“These jurisdictions have, as well as this, committed to taking action to ensure they are at the forefront of transparency on company ownership.”
All British overseas territories with significant financial centres have now signed up to “greater levels of transparency” of accounts held in those jurisdictions, HM Treasury announced on 2 May.
All British overseas territories with significant financial centres have now signed up to “greater levels of transparency” of accounts held in those jurisdictions, HM Treasury announced on 2 May.
The development marked "a turning point in the fight against tax evasion and illicit finance".
Noting that the Cayman Islands told the UK government last month that it was committed to joining the G5 pilot on multilateral automatic exchange of tax information, George Osborne welcomed new commitments from Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands to pilot automatic exchange “bilaterally with the UK and multilaterally with the G5”.
“Gibraltar, which already operates the relevant transparency directives as part of the EU, has also made the same commitments,” the Treasury said.
“The agreement will mean that the UK, along with other countries involved in the pilot, will be automatically provided with much greater levels of information about bank accounts held by their taxpayers in these jurisdictions. This includes names, addresses, dates of birth, account numbers, account balances and details of payments made into those accounts.
“This also includes information on certain accounts held by entities, such as trusts.”
It added: “The Isle of Man – the first non-US jurisdiction to agree to greater exchange of information with the UK – has also agreed to join the multilateral initiative. Guernsey too has also expressed a strong interest in engaging with the pilot.
“These jurisdictions have, as well as this, committed to taking action to ensure they are at the forefront of transparency on company ownership.”
