Quayle made the statement last week while giving evidence to the Isle of Man’s economic policy review committee.
He said the island’s financial services authority was currently hard at work to address “a number of emerging threats on the external front”.
External threats
One of the threats outlined by Quayle was being added to the blacklist.
The IoM avoided being one of the 18 countries named on the list when it was released in December 2017. The list has been updated several times since its release, with nine jurisdictions currently on it.
The island did, however, end up on the so-called EU grey list. Jurisdictions on this list have pledged to make certain changes to their tax practices before December 2018. If they fail to do so, then there is a possibility they will be moved to the blacklist.
Quayle said: “We face the very real danger of the island being put on the EU blacklist.
“It is important to state the huge efforts that have been made in pulling together our response to the EU Code Group, which was satisfactory.
“We now face a challenging timeline to be able to make the changes we need before the deadline of December of this year.
“But we cannot fail to deliver these changes because of the potential repercussions for our economy if blacklisted,” he said.
Quayle did not specify what the changes were and the Isle of Man was not one of the jurisdictions that permitted the EU to publicly disclose the measures it needed to take to meet the required standard.
The comments follow revelations last week that the EU could soon add the US to the blacklist depending on the outcome of an OECD report.
Quayle scrutinised
The economic policy review committee, where Quayle made his statement about the blacklist, is one of the four standing committees of the parliament of the Isle of Man (Tynwald) that scrutinises the government.
As part of its role, the committee publicly scrutinises ministers and chief executives once a year about their respective departments.
Quayle also spoke on Brexit in the meeting and said the financial service authority was putting a “plan B” in place in case there is a hard-Brexit.
Maria Madrid says:
The Isle of Man is fantasy “Wonderland” twisted in an impenetrable labyrinth of illusion. Those who follow Alice down the island’s rabbit hole enter a mystical world of chicanery and deception and will, like Alice, encounter an odd assortment of characters, including the grinning Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and eventually arrive in the court of the tyrannical Queen of Hearts where they must stay on the ruler’s good side — or risk losing their heads.
When Alice was called to give evidence against the sorcerers she calls them “nothing but a pack of cards” and they all come flying down on her in rage. The outcome of this encounter is when Alice wakes up and finds she is no longer in Wonderland, but back in the real world – no less confused.