Fact vs fiction

BDA and industry respond to ICIJ reports - Seite 2

It should also be noted that "tax-haven" is a badly-understood term, particularly by non-trade media. Bermuda does not qualify as a tax haven under a clear OECD definition that stipulates criteria, including lack of transparency and lack of information exchange. No or nominal tax is not sufficient to classify a country as a tax haven. OECD definitions, notwithstanding, the term "tax haven" is synonymous with tax evasion and secrecy-neither of which describe Bermuda.

Bermuda understands and embraces the worldwide movement towards greater financial transparency and regulatory cooperation and continues to commit to international tax disclosure and compliance. We've shown leadership in this sphere and have helped drive global anti-money-laundering directives and anti-terrorist financing standards. These factors differentiate Bermuda from other financial centres, and we stand by that reputation. Response from Bermuda industry groups underscores our market's commitment to transparency:

"Bermuda is a transparent jurisdiction. We have robust regulatory standards and we cooperate and share information with tax authorities and law enforcement agencies. Bermuda is considered a leader on tax-transparency issues by the US Departments of Justice and State, the US Treasury, the OECD, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and G20 nations. Bermuda enforces the rules and understands the importance of global compliance and transparency."
-Patrick Tannock, Chairman, Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC)

"Bermuda is a place where capital is put to work taking on insurance risk. It is a unique jurisdiction where its substantive insurance regulation has been recognised by both the EU and the US as robust and comparable, and where international regulatory standards are applied. MOUs with leading insurance regulators mean that cooperation with insurance supervisors in the EU, the US, and around the world is part of a routine. This regular information exchange is complemented by treaty commitments with more than 100 jurisdictions for taxpayer automatic exchange of information with global tax authorities. Bermuda's global (re)insurers provide significant amounts of capacity that make insurance markets more competitive. Bermuda's international regulatory and tax commitments are a necessary complement to the role our (re)insurers play in global markets."