At the ECOFIN meeting this morning the EU finance ministers
agreed to add Cayman to the EU list of non-cooperative
jurisdictions for tax purposes.
The Council conclusions are available here. In addition to the Cayman Islands, the EU
has added three other countries to the list - Palau, Panama and
Seychelles.
It is reported that the Cayman Islands has been listed because
it "does not have appropriate measures in place relating
to economic substance in the area of collective investment
vehicles". The Islands' Premier has said that the EU
was duly notified that Cayman would pass the relevant collective
investment vehicle legislation by 31 January 2020. However, it
appears that the EU listing stems from Cayman's legislation not
being in force by 4 February, which was the date of the EU's
Code of Conduct Group meeting to advise the EU Finance Ministers,
prior to the Finance Ministers' decision regarding the listing
today.
