Britain’s offshore financial centers have responded back to a threat by the leader of the opposition Labour Party Ed Miliband to put them on a tax haven blacklist, saying the attack was misinformed with potential to damage UK interests.
Miliband has previously threatened Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Jersey, and Guernsey to put them on an international blacklist for tax avoidance unless they produced a public register revealing the identities of the ultimate owners of companies within six months of his party coming to power.
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Bermuda has expressed its disappointment over the announcement while Jersey has called on the Labour leadership to visit the island to discover the facts and Guernsey suggested helping the UK improve its own standards.
The offshore centers have urged that a move against them will damage Britain’s commercial interests and cost jobs.
The premier of Bermuda, Michael Dunkley, said: "We would also remind Mr Miliband of Bermuda’s strategic economic contribution to the UK, which includes direct and indirect employment in the UK of 100,000 people, as well as our role as a global hub for the reinsurance and insurance industries, providing the critical underwriting required for damage arising from natural disasters and terrorist events."
British finance minister George Osborne said: "I think he makes it up as he goes along and if you actually look at what he’s saying, he’s saying he wants to blacklist almost every country in the OECD because they don’t have these central registers."
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By GlobalData
