Senior Guernsey politician says new finance report is 'littered with errors'

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Guernsey
Money
Wednesday 31 January 2018 at 4:50pm

A senior politician in Guernsey says a new finance report is 'littered with errors'.

The Financial Secrecy Index, published by the Tax Justice Network, ranks jurisdictions according to the level of secrecy and their offshore financial activities.

Guernsey was included in the top ten, along with the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Germany.

It also includes six territories that are eligible for inclusion in the EU’s own tax haven blacklist - Switzerland, Cayman Islands, Honk Kong, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates and Guernsey - but which have only found their way onto the EU's "grey list".

But the Vice-President of Guernsey's Policy & Resources Committee, says the amount of errors in the report makes it 'frankly comical'.

The Tax Justice Network has disputed Deputy St Pier's claims.

The Tax Justice Network notes with disappointment the claims made by Guernsey’s vice president. The first claim, that Guernsey’s input to the Financial Secrecy Index was not sought, is simply false. As we have informed Gavin St Pier, we sought Guernsey’s input alongside that of every jurisdiction we review. In Guernsey’s case, this involved contacting five different email addresses including that of the Policy and Resources Committee. These emails and subsequent follow-up messages received no response from Guernsey’s government. The second claim made by Guernsey’s vice president is that the index is littered with errors. We publish openly every single piece of the supporting evidence, for every jurisdiction, available [via our website.](http://www.financialsecrecyindex.com)) This allows anyone to confirm the accuracy or otherwise of any aspect of the ranking, and we warmly welcome comments, queries and challenge should Mr Trott or any other reviewer identify any errors. At the same location, reviewers can find the 240-page methodology document. This reflects the international stakeholder review conducted during 2016-17, and includes a chapter contributed by the leading global index experts at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. As we have made clear to Mr St Pier, we remain happy to consider any input from Guernsey, once he or his deputy have corrected the record. >