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ARTICLE · 03 MARCH 2020

Cayman Islands Added To EU Blacklist

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On February 18, 2020, EU finance ministers updated the EU Blacklist, adding four jurisdictions—the Cayman Islands, Palau, Panama and Seychelles.

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On February 18, 2020, EU finance ministers updated the EU Blacklist, adding four jurisdictions—the Cayman Islands, Palau, Panama and Seychelles. These jurisdictions join eight others—American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Samoa, Oman, Trinidad and Tobago, Vanuatu and the US Virgin Islands—which were already on the list and remain non-compliant.

By contrast, over half of the countries added to the EU Blacklist in 2019 have been delisted, as these jurisdictions have addressed their commitments to comply with the EU's criteria.

Under the EU listing process, jurisdictions are assessed against three main criteria—tax transparency (as determined under the OECD standards), the fairness of the tax system and implementation of the OECD's recommendations against base erosion and profit shifting. Those that fall short on any of these criteria are asked for a commitment to address the deficiencies within a deadline.

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