Jersey chief minister ‘disappointed’ at Miliband letter
Jersey’s chief minister Ian Gorst has formally expressed his “disappointment” with statements from Labour Party leader Ed Miliband about tax transparency and disclosure efforts by UK overseas territories.
In an open letter to the Opposition leader, Gorst said the Island government had reiterated “many times” in past discussions with the Labour shadow government team that Jersey was fully committed to compliance with international standards of disclosure and information exchange.
Earlier this month Miliband said a future Labour government would push for UK overseas territories to be put on an international blacklist if they refuse to co-operate with a drive against tax avoidance.
In his letter to the leaders of Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Gibraltar and Montserrat, Miliband had warned they would have six months to compile a public register of offshore companies. If they failed, they could be put on a “tax havens” list and incur sanctions.
Gorst said in reply that Jersey was one of only a few jurisdictions with an effective, fit-for-purpose central registry of beneficial ownership already in place. He also noted that Jersey is a long standing participant in global efforts to increase cooperation on tax affairs, and shared the same OECD rating as the UK, US and Germany for its application of international standards on information exchange agreements.
