EU finance ministers will remove the Caribbean islands next week, a spokesperson for the European Council confirmed to International Adviser.
At its peak, when it was first released on 5 December 2017, the list contained 17 jurisdictions.
Eight names were removed after one month.
The most recent change was in March, when the Bahamas and St Kitts & Nevis were added, along with the US Virgin Islands.
A document from the EU, seen by IA, states that commitment letters have been signed at high political levels, warranting the jurisdictions’ removal from the blacklist (annex I) to the grey list (annex II).
The remaining blacklisted jurisdictions are:
- American Samoa
- Guam
- Namibia
- Palau
- Samoa
- Trinidad and Tobago
- US Virgin Islands
The removal of the Bahamas will likely be welcomed by Hansard, which announced this week that it is setting up an insurance company there.
Vocal critics
The tax haven blacklist has met with a lot of criticism since it was launched, mostly because there were no European Union or British Overseas Territories (BOTs) listed.
Ironically, the EU was slammed for its lack of transparency around which jurisdictions were put on the list.
It was revealed that representatives of several jurisdictions had made last ditch efforts to avoid being included.
In March, letters were released showing the raft of promises some had made.
The result was the creation of a so-called grey list; originally of 47 jurisdictions, but which is now around 50.
