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Liechtenstein Attempts Removal From OECD Tax Haven List

Stephen Harris

19 February 2009

Pressure from its European neighbours is forcing Liechtenstein to contact the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in a move to have the country removed the organisation's tax haven black list, according to a Reuters report.

The alpine state's prime minister-designate, Klaus Tschuetscher, told the news agency that: "It is necessary to get away from the image of an uncooperative tax haven." He said Liechtenstein needs more transparency to ensure it remains an attractive financial centre.

Liechtenstein could "become a model for the worldwide regulation of untaxed wealth," he said.

The OECD lists Liechtenstein as one of only three "uncooperative tax havens" the others being Andorra and Monaco.

The report claims that the jurisdiction is losing bank clients following a data-theft scandal at LGT.

The names of hundreds of prominent LGT bank clients were revealed to German tax authorities after the government paid an informant to access a disk with bank client names.