A spokesperson for Jersey’s External Relations Department said that one criterion “will require further consideration”, reports local newspaper Jersey Evening Post.
He said: “We are confident of being able to meet the majority of the criteria being used by the EU for this assessment, given our strong track record of co-operation and our commitment to meeting international standards.”
However, he admitted that one criterion is open to interpretation about “what is meant by the requirement that offshore structures in the jurisdiction being screened have ‘real economic activity’ or ‘substance’”.
“This is not helped by the fact that, currently, there is no international standard on these matters.”
He added that it was “irresponsible” to speculate on the likelihood of Jersey being included on the list.
In the firing line
The EU has planned for a blacklist for months.
Nearly two weeks ago, the European Union informed 53 countries and territories that they risk being included on the blacklist, due to be published on 5 December.
This followed the council sending letters to 92 jurisdictions in February, of which 22 proved they were compliant and eight said they would change their laws.
Those that fail to meet the criteria can avoid being blacklisted if they provide a political commitment and a specific plan to comply, reports newspaper the Financial Times.
The blacklist was added to the agenda of a meeting of EU finance minister on Tuesday, shortly after the leak of a trove of data from Bermuda-headquartered law firm Appleby – dubbed the Paradise Papers.
The 13.4 million documents were stolen in a hack in 2016 and passed to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which also broke the Panama Papers.
Earlier this week, European Commission vice-chairman Valdis Dombrovskis said that sanctions would need to be imposed on the blacklisted jurisdictions if the list was to be considered “credible”.
These could include fines and “administrative penalties”.
