Cameron gives Jersey a boost

We are referring to UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s answer to a question asked in the House of Commons yesterday. Replying to Labour MP Fiona O’Donnell’s request for information about the ‘ten tax havens’, Mr Cameron made it clear in the most explicit terms that the Crown Dependencies – including this Island – and Britain’s Overseas Territories are not in the tax haven category.

Although it might have been implicit for some time that the UK Government accepts that the Crown Dependencies and the Overseas Territories are sweeping their side of the street clean on the taxation front, yesterday’s answer serves to dispel any remaining doubt. It is now entirely clear where the Prime Minister and his advisers stand.

Elaborating, Mr Cameron explained his reasons for so emphatically rejecting the idea that the jurisdictions in question can be described as tax havens. He said that they have all agreed to take the necessary action on tax information exchange with the UK, international tax co-operation and beneficial ownership. Furthermore, he spoke of their ‘fair and open’ tax systems.

Quite rightly, he also said that the focus now must be on those places which continue to flout generally accepted international standards of transparency, relying on the cloak of secrecy as a principal means of generating profits.

In commenting on this latest development, Senator Ozouf referred to the confidence boost that it will give to the Island’s finance industry. Given the industry’s manifest importance, the boost should also be felt by the whole community. Even those who remain critical of finance’s influence must surely see without the contribution that the sector makes to the economy, we would be in very dire straits indeed.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ian Gorst has pointed to an important truth: there are the soundest of reasons why the UK should be supportive of Jersey as a financial centre which complement its acceptance of the Island’s probity. Quite simply, what is good for finance in Jersey is good for the UK in terms of capital flows, investment and jobs.