The BVI Government has requested that a supplementary review be granted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Forum to reflect its current legislative status after being “blacklisted” by the European Union today.
The BVI was added to the EU’s list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions (Annex I) this morning, after the EU Council concluded that the BVI “was not sufficiently in compliance with the OECD standard on exchange of information on request (criterion 1.2).”
Following the announcement, the BVI Government issued a statement in response to being “blacklisted”, expressing their commitment to complying with evolving international standards on transparency and the fight against financial crime.
The government said that they made several legislative changes in 2022 to reflect the changes in the international standards but noted that the changes were not recognised in the most recent OECD peering review which was done in November 2022, since the changes came into force on January 1st 2023.
This, according to the government, is to blame for the BVI moving from ‘largely compliant’ to ‘partially compliant’.
Following the supplementary review, the BVI is hopeful that a “largely compliant” rating will be reinstated which should then ensure that the territory is moved back to Annex II of the EU List, reflecting jurisdictions that have committed to implementing reforms.