CARRIBEAN
COUNTRIES INSIST ON EQUAL RULES
BBC
Caribbean Report, 6 March 2002, Morning Edition
http://www0.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/morning.ram
The
lack of a level playing field with the OECD led BBC
Caribbean Report's morning edition, focusing on the
views of the Prime Ministers of two ITIO members,
Bahamas and St Kitts and Nevis, as follows:
Orin
Gordon
Caribbean countries insist on equal rules for all
as they renew efforts to get off an offshore banking
blacklist. … They're making it clear that the
group who drew up the blacklist, the Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD,
must apply the same standards to its members. We have
two reports, the first from Nathalie Williams.
Nathalie
Williams
The Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Hubert Ingrams,
says he received Australia's support for his country's
cause when he met with the Australian Prime Minister
John Howard at the recent Commonwealth summit. The
Bahamas's position is that the OECD must be just as
tough on its members like Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Those countries have opted out of the OECD guidelines
because they said it would be impossible for their
industries to function under such scrutiny. The Bahamas
and the OECD are continuing to do some hard talking
on how to make their practices more transparent: for
example, how to exchange information on possible suspicious
transactions without scaring off legitimate investors.
The Bahamas has given the OECD a draft of their proposed
reforms. It's now for the Paris-based organisation
to say whether that's enough.
Matthew
Axel
St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Denzil Douglas
is also calling for a level playing field. Dr Douglas
said in Basseterre yesterday that, while they strongly
support the OECD's work on harmful tax, they must
protect their economic interests. These interests
are best protected, he insisted, if the same rules
apply to all. St Kitts & Nevis has established
a Financial Intelligence Unit to investigate suspicious
financial transactions and to share information with
financial watchdogs like the OECD.
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