Banking secrecy is one of the pillars of The Bahamas' financial services sector and there's no plan to change that.

This point was made by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham during an interview with Reuters at the recent Americas Conference, held in Florida. He did stress, however, that The Bahamas intends to fully comply with international tax regulators.

"If there are specific things that are needed from a particular person because of a particular set of circumstances, then yes, The Bahamas will cooperate. But we are not in the business of allowing 'fishing' to take place in The Bahamas," Ingraham told Reuters.

"Just coming and throwing a big net and saying 'I want to find out this and the other' is ruled out."

The Bahamas is currently in the process of signing a number of tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) which would guarantee its removal from a grey list of jurisdictions, complied by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which are not fully compliant with internationally agreed tax standards according the OECD.

That agency is requiring nations to sign 12 TIEAs in order to be placed on a white list, indicating compliance.

Ingraham said the goal was to have that process completed by the end of the year.

October 2, 2009

thenassauguardian