Representatives of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have welcomed their inclusion of the OECD’s “whitelist” of financial centres published following last week’s G20 summit.

The whitelist of jurisdictions was drawn up as part of the OECD’s Tax Pledge, a report on the progress made by financial centres towards meeting the internationally agreed standard on tax information exchange.

In the report, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man join a list of jurisdictions such as the UK, the US, France and Germany which the OECD recognises as having substantially implemented the internationally agreed tax standard. 

“We have always been confident that Jersey’s position as a well-regulated, international finance centre which meets global standards of financial regulation and tax information exchange would be recognised internationally,” said Jersey's chief minister Senator Terry Le Sueur.

“We have been working closely with organisations like the OECD, the IMF, the Financial Stability Forum and the Financial Action Task Force on these matters for many years and we will continue to work with the international community as the OECD develops frameworks for strengthening governance of the world economy,” he said.

“This puts to bed, once and for all, the myth that the Island of Guernsey is a tax haven. It is not. It is a low-tax jurisdiction which embraces the best of international standards. The stigma of tax haven status should be gone forever,” said Guernsey chief minister Lyndon Trott.

“The Island has long been committed to the international standards of tax transparency developed by the OECD in 2000. We are at the forefront of small nations in delivering on that commitment,” said Isle of Man Treasury minister Allan Bell.

Jeffrey Owens, director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, praised the three centres for their cooperation with the OECD.

“At a time when many countries have been promising change, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man have been delivering,” he said.

In contrast, the OECD has put Costa Rica, Malaysia, the Philippines and Uruguay on a blacklist of non-cooperative tax havens.

The organisation has also compiled a separate “grey list” of jurisdictions that have agreed to improve transparency standards, but have not yet signed the necessary international accords. This list includes Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Singapore and Chile as well as the Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein and Monaco, according to a statement issued by the OECD.