BVI on tax 'white list'

The British Virgin islands and the Cayman islands have joined the global 'white list' of countries using internationally recognised tax standards, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Malta is already on the white list, having been confirmed by the OECD at the G20 summit last April. The British Virgin islands and the Cayman islands are considered to be among Malta's competing jurisdictions for business domicile purposes. The G20 group of leading industrialised and emerging market nations agreed in April to crack down on countries that failed to help out in cross-border tax evasion cases. At the time, the OECD published a 'grey list' of more than 30 countries that had agreed to improve transparency standards but had not signed the necessary international accords.

To get off the list, governments had to sign at least 12 bilateral tax agreements in line with OECD standards. The OECD said the British Virgin islands and the Cayman Islands had both signed pacts with New Zealand to give them the needed quorum.