UK deal on Caribbean tax havens boosts prospect of EU-wide crackdown

The United Kingdom's Overseas Territories bowed to pressure for greater tax transparency in May 2013, in a move the UK government hailed as 'a turning point in the fight against tax evasion and illicit finance'.

The HM Treasury announced that Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands have followed the Cayman Islands by agreeing to share information automatically with Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The Isle of Man, the first non-US jurisdiction to agree to greater exchange of information with the UK, has agreed to join the multilateral initiative. Guernsey has also expressed a 'clear' interest. It, along with Jersey, has already agreed to exchange tax information automatically with Britain.

On the 20 May 2013, ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels, Prime Minister David Cameron called upon Britain's overseas territories to "get their house in order" over the sharing of tax information, and told business leaders to stop using “smoke and mirrors” to avoid paying taxes.

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