The comments were made by Guernsey’s minister for commerce and employment, Kevin Stewart, who was discussing a European Parliament proposal to introduce public registers that name the settlors and trustees of trusts, as well as the owners of companies.
He told the Guernsey Association of Trustees that the registers ‘would seriously damage the potential for legitimate use of trusts in EU member states’ and could cause economic damage.
He added that that they would also damage Guernsey’s competitors.
“On beneficial ownership information, and on tackling tax evasion, we are well ahead of many European countries by all objective standards,” he said.
"It is an inconvenient truth. Many of those we speak to still put their hands over their ears when we enter the room. Our competitors have too much to gain from undermining our reputation.’
He added that the Government would “only do what is right for Guernsey and for the long-term health of our world-leading fiduciary sector”.
Last April, the proposed legislation prompted Swiss finance minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf to call for all countries to be treated equally in the drive to stamp out tax evasion.
Her comments came as an address to concerns that Swiss banks had been unfairly singled out in recent years.
“We consider it very important that rules must apply to all and are engaging ourselves for a level playing field in multilateral forums,” she told Reuters.
“Recent revelations have confirmed that various financial centres in America and Asia do not comply with international standards.”
At the time, The Swiss Bankers Association added that only 0.5% of the 120,000 companies and trusts uncovered by the leak were based in Switzerland.
