Praise for UK offshore centres.
The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey have been praised by the UK government for their response to tighter regulations imposed by the Edwards Report and other rules. Improved regulation and policing in the tax havens have been attributed for putting them in the top division for offshore financial centres worldwide. A joint statement from Home Office minister Lord Bassam and Treasury economic secretary Melanie Johnson said that continuing improvements had helped the tax havens improve. The programme of reforms emerged from the Isle of Man, and the island is looking to improve regulation by reforming internal domestic legislation and local practises. The comments have come with tax havens facing pressure from bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and the United Nations over money laundering and the exchange of information between tax authorities.