Overseas territories “not tax havens” press coverage sample

David Cameron’s comment that “I do not think it is fair any longer to refer to any of the overseas territories or Crown dependencies as tax havens” has gathered extensive coverage in secrecy jurisdiction press. Here are a few examples:

The Gibraltar Chronicle has a statement from the leaders of Overseas Territories – who were meeting in Gibraltar last week – saying: “Our territories are well regulated, independent financial services jurisdictions, and play an integral role in facilitating global business. We will continue to lead on meeting international standards of tax and transparency”

International Adviser says that Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man “revel” in Cameron’s “not tax havens” comments.

Additionally, in Jersey Cameron’s comments were seen as an endorsement in the same week as a visit by the Lord Mayor of London, while in Guernsey the finance industry is preparing promotional events in Asia.

Cayman Finance said that “the transparency of the Cayman Islands financial services industry that had been built over the past four decades was finally being recognized.”

“…we believe it is about time Cayman starts to receive some credit,” said Gonzalo Jalles, CEO of Cayman Finance.

In Bermuda coverage picked up comments from Cameron during the parliamentary debate in which he said: “For many years, Luxembourg and Austria have held up progress on this issue. They have often tried to get round that by pointing to the overseas territories and Crown dependencies of the UK, which have now put their house in order, so we can turn back to Austria and Luxembourg.” The whole exchange can be found on the Parliament.uk website; Cameron was responding to Jack Straw.

The Bermuda News website also linked back to comments by Finance Minister Bob Richards in June of 2013, saying that Overseas Territories are being used as “scapegoats and distractions from domestic policies and domestic policy failures.”

So far there seems to have been very limited coverage of Cameron’s comments in the UK and international press.