The ‘Open for growth’ meeting hosted by UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday 15 June, was attended by representatives from the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, including the Isle of Man and Jersey, as well as representatives from the G8 countries.
Harwood said, prior to the main meeting he, alongside his counterparts from the Isle of Man and Jersey and representatives of the Overseas Territories, met with Cameron to discuss the PM’s plans for greater tax transparency.
“We had a frank conversation with the Prime Minister, and I asked him to acknowledge the strong track record Guernsey has on tax transparency, on information exchange and on beneficial ownership – the latter demonstrated by Guernsey being one of the few jurisdictions in the world, including G8 members, to actually regulate trust and corporate service providers,” said Harwood.
“I made a similar point to the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, who chaired the session on tax. I was pleased that during the session on tax, Christian Aid’s chief executive acknowledged the work done and commitments given by the Crown Dependencies on tax transparency.”
Candid discussion
The ‘Open for growth’ meeting itself was attended by around 150 people, including ministerial representatives from each G8 member, heads of government and ministers from non-G8 countries and senior representatives from the private sector, international organisations and Non-Government Organisations.
“It was certainly useful to meet other participants in the tax session and to ask them to look beyond political rhetoric and judge Guernsey on the actions for tax transparency and against tax evasion that it has taken,” Harwood.
“The session was constructive and candid and many in the room will now understand Guernsey better. From a Guernsey perspective, I now wait with interest to see what G8 members do on issues such as beneficial ownership in order to meet the standards that we already achieve,” said the chief minister.
The UK also used the meeting to set out its commitment to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters – an agreement which Harwood has confirmed Guernsey will sign up to.
“The Convention is a significant step towards creating a global level playing field in tax information exchange,” added Harwood. “Given that, I am committed to recommending to Guernsey’s legislative assembly that Guernsey signs up to the Convention, subject to the agreement of appropriate reservations.”
Guernsey is already in the final stages of agreeing a tax information disclosure agreement with the UK based on the United States’ Foreign Account Tax Compliant Act – which it is also implementing.
