Hong Kong Financial Services Provider Zetland Sees Major Advantages in BVI and Cayman's Whitelisting

The recent creation of the black and grey list by the OECD after the Swiss banking debacle earlier in the year has put the offshore investment business growth plans of many on hold, while countries have put measures in place to comply with OECD requirements. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) October 26, 2009 - Two of the last countries to be added to the OECD's 'white list' of countries choosing to cooperate with the internationally agreed tax standards have now joined the rest of the world. The incorporation of the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands into the list will be a major boon to investors, according to leading offshore investment business advisers, Zetland Financial Group.

The initial white list left off some 42 countries. For the full list of countries not originally on the white list, see the end of the document. BVI (The British Virgin Islands) and the Cayman Islands are small countries, but according to offshore investment business advisers at Zetland, are "Two of the world's biggest offshore financial jurisdictions".

Jason Weatherhead explained how the grey list removal would affect BVI and Cayman: "While grey list status doesn’t necessarily mean that countries are less safe for offshore investment business, the perception of being outside the norm can hurt them somewhat. These jurisdictions are among those with the most favorable investment environments in the world, so the added investor confidence should be mutually beneficial".

Mr Weatherhead also noted that the white listing didn’t necessarily mean lower privacy standards for offshore investment business owners in the Islands. "There are stringent rules about what information must be exchanged in what circumstances. It isn’t something that is taken lightly".
A country must know:
•The identity of the person being investigated
•The exact information they are seeking
•The tax purpose the information relates to
•Grounds to believe the offshore jurisdiction has the necessary information
•The name and address of the institutions holding the information

"This means that any investigations would have to be a police or major tax department matter. They won’t be going after anyone who hasn’t substantially broken the law", Mr Weatherhead continued.

•Andorra
•Anguilla
•Antigua and Barbuda
•Aruba
•Bahamas
•Bahrain
•Belize
•Bermuda
•British Virgin Islands
•Cayman Islands4
•Cook Islands
•Dominica
•Gibraltar
•Grenada
•Liberia
•Liechtenstein
•Marshall Islands
•Monaco
•Montserrat
•Nauru
•Neth. Antilles
•Niue
•Panama
•St Kitts and Nevis
•St Lucia
•St Vincent & Grenadines
•Samoa
•San Marino
•Turks and Caicos Islands
•Vanuatu
•Austria5
•Belgium5
•Brunei
•Chile
•Guatemala
•Luxembourg5
•Singapore
•Switzerland5
•Costa Rica
•Malaysia (Labuan)
•Philippines
•Uruguay

About Zetland Financial Group:
The Zetland Financial Group - http://www.zetland.biz - provides the offshore investor with fiduciary Services, investment management and corporate advisory services, offering personal service and professional advice with total confidentiality.

For more information please contact:

Jason Weatherhead
Zetland Fiduciary Group
Email: jason ( @ ) zetland dot biz
Website: http://www.zetland.biz

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