The Cayman Islands government has signed another information sharing agreement, this time with the seven European nations known as the Nordic countries. The Nordic countries comprise Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Cayman Minister for International Financial Services Policy, Alden McLaughlin, said the series of agreements shows that Cayman does not trade in secrecy. The bilateral agreements, including tax information exchange, were successfully concluded during technical negotiations held on March 5-6, 2009 in Copenhagen, reportedly the second round after negotiations held in the Cayman Islands in April 2008.
*“We are very pleased to see these agreements come to fruition with our Nordic Group partners. It is proof of what can be achieved when parties approach negotiations in a fair manner, and we are keen to continue this trend, involving, on our part, effective arrangements for the provision of information on tax matters,”* said the Minister.
The seven tax information agreements are currently going through the political authorization process on both sides, to enable execution at a signing ceremony to be conducted in Stockholm in April 2009. The collateral commercial agreements will be signed in mid-June at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Paris.
Speaking to Cayman News Service (CNS) last week in advance of the Government’s visit to Washington, Minister McLaughlin said *“With all that is transpiring there is a need among the major nations to find scapegoats for the global financial crisis.”* Of the outreach in Washington, he also said, *”We need to weigh in as heavily as we can to ensure that they understand the problems do not stem from the Cayman Islands. We must make them understand what we are. It is all about re-enforcing the message and differentiating our jurisdiction.”
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