INTERVIEW: BVI Reiterates Co-Operative Stance Ahead Of G8, Denounces Client Account Leaks

Tom Burroughes

14 June 2013

The British Virgin Islands, like a lot of other offshore financial centres, doesn’t feel very much loved at the moment. Recent reports that a vast amount of client data had “leaked” from this jurisdiction are a reminder of how far governments and some media organisations are prepared to go in getting their hands on account information.

Ahead of a Group of Eight meeting in Northern Ireland next week, the UK government – which is hosting the G8 this time around – has invited senior figures from the BVI government to attend two meetings on 15 June in London. At these meetings, figures from all UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, such as the BVI and the Cayman Islands, will debate issues with UK prime minister David Cameron. The BVI government has said it will in principle commit to joining the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Assistance on Tax Matters.

In certain ways, therefore, the BVI seems to be doing its utmost to present an open face to the world.

Elise Donovan, executive director of the BVI International Financial Centre, recently took to this publication’s pages (see here) to defend the jurisdiction and criticise the wholesale leaking of client data. And she was in robust form when this website spoke to her again about the issue.

“BVI welcomes that discussion on transparency,” she said, referring to the G8 calls for more disclosure from international financial centres, exchange of information and co-operation. “The BVI signed up to the OECD protocols on tax information exchange in 2002 and now has signed 24 tax information exchange agreements,” she said.

“We have no problems in facilitating sharing of information with treaty partners if it is requested for legitimate reasons,” Donovan said.

Where the issue gets tricky is when there are calls for the beneficial owners of a structure such as a trust to have that fact fully disclosed and listed. “We have to be cautious about putting private information into the public domain. Everyone can relate to having a bank account and you wouldn’t want its contents put into the public domain,” she said.

“Our position has been very clear – we see the use of information obtained illicitly to be utterly deplorable,” she said. Most of the reporting has said there is nothing illegal about owning an entity in an IFC such as the BVI,” she said.

She asked the rhetorical question as to how would the journalists and others like to see their own banking or other details published after it had been obtained in this manner?

It is a good question to ask.