Jamaica among 100 countries to be assessed

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) kicked off a three-day meeting in Nassau with Junior Finance Minister Zhivargo Laing saying it should assist countries like the Bahamas in developing strategies to deal with transparency and information exchange on tax matters.

The OECD Peer Review Group runs from July 20-22.

"The importance of the peer review group is that evaluations being done about whether countries are in compliance with the rules or not are being done by groups of countries as opposed to some narrower select group that may or may not represent the broader views and perspectives of countries involved," Laing said.

The group was established by the Global Forum in September last year as a technical working group consisting of representatives of 30 countries, including The Bahamas.

It is operating under a mandate to develop and create a system for the assessment, monitoring and review of actions taken by member countries.

The Bahamas is part of the first group of countries that will be assessed.

The others include Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Botswana, Canada, Cayman Islands, Denmark, Germany, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Jersey, Mauritius, Monaco, Norway, Panama, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago.

OECD official said that 100 jurisdictions will be reviewed over the next three years, in a two-phase process that examines legal and regulatory frameworks for transparency and information exchange as well as practical implementation.

The phase one review for The Bahamas began on July 11. The next phase begins July, 2012.

Laing said he is supportive of the new review process.

"It's a more equitable, fairer arrangement than seen in times past," he said.

"So I think that it is something to be welcomed, to be enhanced over time ... and that there is greater transparency and equity in how countries are evaluated for compliance with its standards."

- CMC