GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands --We are pleased to see that the decision by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to place the Cayman Islands on a list of jurisdictions that have committed to "internationally agreed tax standard[s]" recognises the significant cooperation by the Cayman Islands over the years with several governments and other organisations like the OECD. For example, the Cayman Islands have entered into twenty tax information exchange commitments, both bilateral and unilateral, the largest number of any offshore financial centre, and have implemented the automatic information-sharing with all EU states under the EU Savings Directive.
Although the OECD is still reviewing the Cayman Islands legislation introducing the unilateral mechanism and therefore chose not to include the unilateral arrangements in the total number of commitments that the Cayman Islands have entered into, several OECD member states have nonetheless already recognised the validity of the unilateral mechanism. Indeed, the German government has announced that it is "in accordance with the standard laid down by the OECD".
As a leading international law firm in the Cayman Islands, Maples and Calder is committed to encouraging financial transparency and cooperation. Earlier this week, the OECD praised the Cayman Islands for "setting a good example" in relation to tax information exchange agreements and noted that it was one of the first jurisdictions to commit to the OECD standards. We therefore look forward to the Cayman Islands being moved to the list of jurisdictions that have substantially implemented internationally agreed tax standards as soon as the OECD review is complete.