Captive news

European Commission lists third-country non-cooperative jurisdictions The European Commission has published a first pan-EU list of third-country non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and has launched a public consultation to assess whether companies should have to publicly disclose certain tax information. The move is part of the Commission's Action Plan to fundamentally reform corporate taxation in the EU which sets out a series of initiatives to tackle tax avoidance, secure sustainable revenues and strengthen the Single Market for businesses. The Commission said its decision to publish a list of third countries and territories blacklisted by Member States was about launching a more open and uniform EU approach to non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. "This can be used to screen non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and develop a common EU strategy to deal with them. As such, it will reinforce Member States' collective defence system against external threats to their revenues," said the Commission.hideThe full list is: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Guernsey, Monaco, Mauritius, Liberia, Seychelles, Brunei, Hong Kong, Maldives, Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Montserrat, Panama, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, Turks and Caicos, and US Virgin Islands. The Commission stressed that it did not decide which countries should be listed. "Rather, it is relaying decisions taken at national level, since this list of non-cooperative jurisdictions is compiled from Member States' own blacklists. The Top 30 of non-cooperative jurisdictions is made up of countries that featured on at least ten Member States' lists. Ultimately, the aim is to have a common EU approach to defining and reacting to third country non-cooperative jurisdictions. In discussions with Member States on their national blacklists, it became clear that each one uses different criteria to determine which countries to list, and takes different measures (if any at all) against listed countries," said the Commission. It added: "A common EU approach will carry more weight than a patchwork of national ones and will prevent tax avoiders from accessing non-cooperative jurisdictions by exploiting loopholes in different national approaches." It said the list will allow Member States to compare their national lists in an easy and transparent way. The Commission said it will amend the list at least once a year to reflect changes to Member States' national lists. OECD criticises EC list of non-cooperative jurisdictions The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has responded to the European Commission's announcement on non-cooperative jurisdictions by writing to the members of its Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, which the OECD describes as "the premier international body for ensuring the implementation of the internationally agreed standards of transparency and exchange of information in the tax area." "The EU has indicated that they have not decided which countries should be listed, rather it is relaying decisions taken at a national level by their members. It is very unfortunate that this exercise has looked like the establishment of a list. Our EU colleagues have confirmed that this is not their intent," said Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration and Monica Bhatia, Head, Global Forum Secretariat. The OECD said it should be noted that the EU Commission has incorporated the Global Forum's terms of reference into its principles of good governance in tax matters and so supports a clear link between compliance with the Global Forum standard and inclusion on a national blacklist. However, it said it is not clear how this aspect is factored into either the national blacklists or the EC's list. "As the OECD and the Global Forum we would like to confirm that the only agreeable assessment of countries as regards their cooperation is made by the Global Forum and that a number of countries identified in the EU exercise are either fully or largely compliant and have committed to automatic exchange of information, sometimes even as early adopters. Without prejudice to countries' sovereign positions, we are happy to confirm that these jurisdictions are cooperative and we would like to commend the tremendous progress made over the past years as well as the cooperation and integrity of the Global Forum process," said the OECD. Guernsey calls EC list 'unjustified, unwarranted and plainly wrong' Guernsey's Chief Minister welcomed the comments by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that underline Guernsey's reputation as a cooperative jurisdiction. Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, Chief Minister said: "Guernsey meets every international standard of tax transparency and cooperation, and we are by any objective or evidence-based set of criteria a cooperative jurisdiction. It is important that is recognised internationally, and the clear views of the OECD - the leading international standard-setter on tax transparency and cooperation - will help ensure that is the case." He went on: "The European Commission shoehorned Guernsey onto an arbitrary list of so-called non-cooperative jurisdictions three weeks ago. Since then the UK government has made it clear to the Commission that Guernsey should not be on any list of non-cooperative jurisdictions, and now the OECD has done the same. The Commission should either withdraw the list, or remove Guernsey from it...Guernsey's place on the list is unjustified, unwarranted and plainly wrong." RIMS backs Captive Clarification Act RIMS, the US risk management society, has backed the reintroduction of the Captive Clarification Act that would officially omit captives from the Non-admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA), providing risks professionals with greater clarity on expenses associated with their organisation's captive investment. RIMS pointed out that the NRRA failed to explicitly exclude captives from the definition of "non-admitted insurer," leaving insureds unclear on whether independent procurement taxes on the insurance purchased from their captive must be paid to their home state in addition to the captive domicile. The Captive Clarification Act was reintroduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). RIMS President Rick Roberts said: "For risk professionals to successfully manage alternative risk programmes like captives, we need a clear understanding of government regulations. The NRRA, in its original form, leaves risk professionals guessing as to whether their organisations will be taxed twice and even whether they need to change the location of their captive. The Captive Clarification Act clears up that uncertainty. We fully support Sen. Leahy and Sen. Graham's reintroduction of the legislation and hope that a committee hearing and companion bill from the House will follow soon." Hawaii appoints captive insurance administrator Sanford Saito has been appointed deputy commissioner and captive insurance administrator for the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) Insurance Division. He previously held the position in an acting capacity. He is a certified financial examiner and has been with the Insurance Division since 2004 as a captive insurance examiner. Prior to that, he worked in the department's Division of Consumer Advocacy as a public utilities auditor. Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito said: "The Insurance Division will benefit from Sanford's continued leadership in maintaining our prudent regulatory and business-friendly environment, which makes us one of the top domiciles in the world." Hawaii is ranked the fourth largest captive domicile in the US and 11th in the world based on the total number of active captive licences. IAIS consults on supervision of captives The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has begun a public consultation on a draft Application Paper on Supervision and Regulation of Captive Insurers. The paper updates guidance available to insurance supervisors on the application of regulation and supervision specifically relevant to captive insurers or reinsurers. The updates reflect the 2011 IAIS Insurance Core Principles (ICPs) and highlight those matters specifically relevant to captive supervision. The IAIS said the paper is an Application Paper. Application Papers provide additional material related to one or more ICPs, ComFrame or G-SII policy measures, including actual examples or case studies that help practical application of supervisory material. The consultation paper can be found on the IAIS website at www.iaisweb.org.

Captive news

Want to read this article?

Read Next

AXA P&C increases premiums by 7% as rates rise at AXA XL

Hong Kong and Shanghai to cooperate on captives and ILS

Swiss broker Kessler names head of special risks

US insurers expected to increase casualty pricing as social inflation rises

Consultancy S-RM expands cybersecurity practice to APAC

AXA P&C increases premiums by 7% as rates rise at AXA XL

Hong Kong and Shanghai to cooperate on captives and ILS

Swiss broker Kessler names head of special risks

US insurers expected to increase casualty pricing as social inflation rises

Consultancy S-RM expands cybersecurity practice to APAC

Want to read this article?

Read Next

AXA P&C increases premiums by 7% as rates rise at AXA XL

Hong Kong and Shanghai to cooperate on captives and ILS

Swiss broker Kessler names head of special risks

US insurers expected to increase casualty pricing as social inflation rises

Consultancy S-RM expands cybersecurity practice to APAC

Related Articles