Good afternoon and thank you for coming. As I indicated in a statement earlier today, the news from Brussels this morning is a setback for Bermuda. It is disappointing that after endless hours of crafting a regime that would meet the required test and in fact having one now in force has not been enough to prevent our addition to the EU’s list on non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.
Bermuda is compliant and we are confident that within a matter of weeks, that will be accepted by EU Member States and Bermuda will be removed from this list. This confidence is shared by the UK Government who through the Treasury specifically stated “that Bermuda has legislated to address the issue identified. In light of this we expect Bermuda, and other compliant jurisdictions, to be removed from the list at the next available opportunity.”
Today’s developments are not where we want to be and certainly are not where we intended to be when we embarked on this process. In various public statements I have referred to external threats to our jurisdiction and this is one of those we must address.
The various stakeholder groups represented here today demonstrate a Bermuda show of strength and determination to preserve a jurisdictional reputation earned over several decades. Working together we will preserve investor and business confidence and continue to demonstrate that Bermuda has met the standard required by the EU.
I wish to assure the people of Bermuda that we do not anticipate any sanctions to be levied against us and this will in no way affect how we travel or otherwise interact with the EU.
Let me also state that we will be pressing Bermuda’s case, emphasizing that fairness must be the order of the day. Our industry partners have commented on the paradox of our Regulations being stricter than some of those countries that have not been listed. I believe that between now and May, a fair assessment of Bermuda’s legislation will confirm our compliance and we will be removed from the List.
The Minister of Finance will address some of the stakeholder engagement and the more technical issues that surround today’s decision.