Cameron summons tax havens to Westminster
Senior ministers from ten Crown dependencies are summoned to Westminster in order to discuss a tax disclosure deal
THE PRIME MINISTER has requested senior ministers of countries considered tax havens come to London on the eve of this month’s G8 summit in order to discuss a tax information-sharing deal.
The ten crown dependencies – Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Anguilla, Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man – will be invited to sign a an OECD convention to give mutual assistance in tax matters, which provides for the sharing of information between countries, the Guardian reports.
Several Crown dependencies have already agreed to take part in information-sharing schemes, but not to the extent prescribed in the convention. David Cameron (pictured) wrote to the countries in May, saying he wishes to “knock down the walls of company secrecy”, revealing the beneficial owners of companies.
Many of the nations are indignant over being labelled tax havens, claiming the bases of their economies are threatened.
Cameron and the chancellor, George Osborne, are still unsure over how far they will press the G8 on measures to make it easier to reveal owners of companies and assets, with the US and Canada resistant.
The prime minister, alongside Nick Clegg, plans to chair a tax and transparency conference on the weekend before the G8 summit, looking at the possibility of the dependencies signing up to the convention on Saturday.
