'EU blacklist is old news'- Premier Smith
He was speaking at the First Sitting of the First Session of the Third House of Assembly held at the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex in Road Town yesterday June 23, 2015.
Honourable Fraser during his presentation in the House today said, “Given the result of these elections, everything seemed alright or so we thought, until days after we were to learn of the closing of the [Biras Creek] Resort thus leaving 73 people unemployed. Shortly after that we were to learn of our territory being blacklisted by the EU,” he said.
However, Premier Smith hit back by saying that the territory has taken many steps to ensure that it remains competitive and does not lose its place on the international scene with regards to financial services.
“The Honourable member for the Third District made mention of the territory being blacklisted by the EU but this is old news,” he said and noted that all the EU did was place all the countries that were blacklisted by countries in Europe over the years on a list.
He then went on to speak about how the territory has been compliant in many areas.
Still on France blacklist
The VI has since 2013 been placed on a financial services blacklist by France, for which the NDP blamed the former Virgin Islands Party administration which had left office in November 2011.
Persons have the view that the Premier might have brushed off the statement by Honourable Fraser because of the fact that the blacklisting happened under the watch of the NDP in Government.
The Government had crafted a detailed response to the blacklisting, expressing its disappointment with the decision and puzzling what standard was used to arrive at the listing of countries, which includes many other British Overseas Territories.
“The Government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) is disappointed with the European Commission’s decision to publish a communiqué and an accompanying annex that seems to suggest that the BVI is a non-cooperative tax jurisdiction,” the response said.
“The BVI has a long track-record of meeting the highest international standards in international cooperation, regulation and transparency, and continues to do so today.
“These efforts have been recognised by the governments of several G8 and G20 countries, and the BVI has met the standards set by international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).”
“The BVI continues to be a constructive and cooperative partner on Transparency and Information Exchange and demonstrates this by having an active role in the OECD's Global Forum which is the largest tax body in the world, as well as sitting on the 30 member Peer Review Group,” said the statement.
.png)
.png)
.png)
Follow Us On
17 Responses to “'EU blacklist is old news'- Premier Smith”
Wize Up! you just spoil my day with your BS comment, is your head stuck in your @$$? the BVI was never blacked listed under the NDP, STOP YOUR IGNORANCE.