Bahamas, St Kitts off EU tax haven list

Brussels, May 25

The EU on Friday removed the Caribbean nations of the Bahamas and Saint Kitts and Nevis from a blacklist of tax havens, bringing the number of jurisdictions to seven.

The nations, struck off from the list after providing good conduct commitments to the EU authorities, will now move to the so-called grey list — a list of countries that have promised to do better. The blacklist now covers seven jurisdictions: Guam, Namibia, Palau, Samoa, American Samoa and Trinidad and Tobago as well as the Virgin Islands in the US.

“Having fewer and fewer jurisdictions on the (black) list shows the success of this procedure,” said Bulgarian Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov, whose country holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, after his counterparts agreed to remove the two nations.

The EU blacklist, adopted in December 2017 was a first in EU history. It initially comprised 17 countries. But that was halved in January with eight countries, including Panama, having provided good conduct commitments and being moved to the grey list.This reduction, particularly Panama’s withdrawal, had provoked outrage among activists. — AFP