Cayman signs tax deal with Germany
(CNS): The Cayman Islands government has entered into its 18th Tax information Exchange Agreement. The deal was signed in George Town today, Thursday 27 May with Germany. The signing ceremony was held at the GIS Conference Room and was hosted by the premier, McKeeva Bush who signed the agreement on behalf of Cayman. Germany’s Ambassador to Jamaica, Jürgen Engel, signed the agreement on behalf of Germany. Bush said the agreement was a milestone in the countries’ relationship not least because of the presence of a number of leading German financial institutions in the jurisdiction.
“Signing this agreement today with Germany is a milestone in a long-standing relationship we have enjoyed for several years,” the premier said. “We are very cognisant that Germany’s top financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank and Bayerische have all had a presence in the Cayman Islands for many years, some holding bank licenses since the early 1970s. In recent years, we’ve seen Deutsche Bank in particular invest and grow its presence in the Cayman Islands. This is a welcome development in light of the global consolidation happening in the banking sector.”
Bush said that a bi-lateral agreement with Germany had been in effect since 2005 as part of the implementation of the European Union Savings Directive, under which Cayman reports interest income earned by German citizens in the jurisdiction’s accounts.
“From what I have seen, this agreement has worked smoothly and efficiently,” he added. “Today’s comprehensive tax information sharing arrangements reflect our countries’ commitment to upholding and implementing international standards in an important area of the global financial services sector.”
Engel said the agreement strengthened the resolve of the two countries to enter into fair and transparent tax competition and it symbolize the desire to follow the OECD standards of transparency.
Bush noted that several Cayman government officers were working side-by-side with their German counterparts on mutual areas of interest, such as in the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes’ Steering and Peer Review Groups.
The governor, Duncan Taylor, Attorney General, Samuel Bulgin, Financial Secretary, Kenneth Jefferson as well as members of the legislative assembly, senior officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority were as present at the ceremony as was as representatives from the private sector. During his visit to Grand Cayman, Engel also met separately with the governor and Germany’s Honourary Consul for the Cayman Islands, Christiane Schuette-McField and representatives from Cayman’s business community.
Category: Business
