JERSEY’S status as a finance centre has gained more political credibility, following the signing of a new tax agreement with Germany.
The influential Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has welcomed the bilateral agreement and says it is significant ‘because it reaffirms Jersey’s commitment to implementing international standards of transparency and exchange of information in tax matters’.
The OECD’s comments come just a few months prior to the full investigation of the Island’s financial services regulation by the International Monetary Fund. The latest agreement, which is subject to States of Jersey approval, is the third that Jersey has signed and means that if the German authorities ask for information about the tax matters of individuals or companies the Island authorities will respond in a co-operative manner, provided there are genuine reasons for the request.
The move has been linked in the national press with recent revelations that prominent German citizens have been concealing funds in Liechtenstein. The documents were signed in Berlin on Friday by Chief Minister Frank Walker and on the German side by Nicolette Kressl, parliamentary state secretary and deputy minister of finance, and Heinrich Tiemann, state secretary of foreign affairs.
