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The Bahamas financial services industry is stable and governed by a sound regulatory regime

#The Bahamas, February 24, 2020 The European Unions Economic and Financial Affairs Council completely removed The Bahamas from its List of Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes, at their meeting in Brussels today. In a statement this morning, the EU confirmed that The Bahamas has implemented the necessary reforms to meet the EU criteria on tax governance and cooperation on tax matters. The Government welcomes this decision and the positive impact it should have on growth to investor confidence in the industry

In March 2019, TheBahamas was placed on the EUs Annex II the greylist. While different from the more serious Annex Ithe blacklist of the EU List of Non-Cooperative Jurisdiction for TaxPurposes, The Bahamas was still subject to ongoing monitoring by the EU withrespect to the implementation of economic substance requirements. With todaysmove, The Bahamas has addressed all of the concerns on economic substance,removal of preferential exemptions and automatic exchange of tax information.

This news of ourremoval from the EU list affirms that The Bahamas takes its position as aglobal financial center very seriously. Coming off this list was not an easyprocess. We engaged many stakeholders and executed a comprehensive strategy tonot only address the EUs concerns but also to defend the jurisdiction againstrecent attacks on the legitimacy of our financial services business, said DeputyPrime Minister and Minister of Finance K. Peter Turnquest.

Over the past year, theGovernments team of technical advisors has had several meetings with the EUsCode of Conduct Group to engage in dialogue on the integrity of The Bahamastax governance measures. Most of the discussions centered on the introductionof economic substance requirements for Investment Funds.

The Bahamas has workeddiligently to demonstrate its commitment at the highest political level tointernational standards on information exchange, tackling harmful tax practicesand dismantling artificial tax structures. On behalf of the Government, I thankthe staff, agencies and industry stakeholders that worked so hard to achievethis result. Your support, encouragement and technical skills have beeninvaluable in this process and prove once again, we can rise to any challenge,said Minister Turnquest.

All of our criticsshould see that the EUs statements today clearly counters the view that TheBahamas is not doing its part in the global effort to stop financial crimessuch as tax evasion and money laundering, he said.

The positive evaluation of The Bahamas by the EU sends a strong signal to the international community that The Bahamas financial services industry is stable and governed by a sound regulatory regime. The Government will continue to promote engagement with all stakeholders on these issues and will take the appropriate measures to ensure that The Bahamas adheres to international best practices and remains the preferred jurisdiction of choice for financial services in the region.

Press Release, Central Communications Unit, Bahamas Ministry of Finance

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European Union removes The Bahamas from tax watch list - Magnetic Media