Cayman signs deal with Northern European states

(CNS): With the G20 meeting only a few weeks away, the Cayman Islands government has signed another information sharing agreement, this time with the seven European nations known as the Nordic countries. According to the Portfolio of Finance and Economics, the series of bilateral agreements, including tax information agreements, were successfully concluded during technical negotiations held on 5-6 March 2009 in Copenhagen. Minister Alden McLaughlin said the agreement was further evidence that Cayman does not trade in secrecy.

The portfolio said in a statement that the recent meeting in Denmark was the second-round of negotiations, the first round having taken place in the Cayman Islands 17-18 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 for International Financial Services Policy, Alden McLaughlin. “This is further evidence that the Cayman Islands does not trade on secrecy or illicit tax activity.”

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. The Nordic countries comprise Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.