(June 26) – “The world’s big economies will on Monday ‘name and shame’ 35 offshore financial centres, ranging from the US Virgin Islands to Monaco and Liechtenstein, as tax havens that harm trade and investment flows,” writes Christopher Adams and Michael Peel in Sunday’s Financial Times.

“A draft version of the list, obtained by the Financial Times, will be the central plank of a report to be published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development this week.”

“The OECD will tell the centres that unless they co-operate with a global crackdown on tax evasion, they risk incurring economic sanctions.”

“They will be given a year to commit to reform. If they fail to do so, OECD member states will consider abrogating tax treaties allowing companies to write off tax paid in the territories.”

“Several centres reacted angrily to their inclusion and accused the OECD of failing to consult. Richard Pratt, director-general of the financial services commission of Jersey, Channel Islands, said the Paris-based organisation had “culled the names from airline magazines”. He said: ‘They haven’t done a full evaluation exercise or told us why we’ve failed.'”

“But other centres were relaxed. “The process has changed over the last three or four months,” said a government official from one on the list. ‘The OECD have taken a much more constructive line and a much more conciliatory line.'”

“The jurisdictions identified as tax havens are: Anguilla; Andorra; Antigua; Aruba; the Bahamas; Bahrain; Barbados; Belize; the British Virgin Islands; the Channel Islands of Guernsey, Sark and Alderney; the Cook Islands; Dominica; Gibraltar; Grenada; Isle of Man; Jersey; Liberia; Liechtenstein; Maldives; Marshall Islands; Monaco; Montserrat; Nauru; Netherlands Antilles; Niue; Panama; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; St. Vincent; Seychelles; Tonga; Turks and Caicos; US Virgin Islands; Vanuatu; Western Samoa.”

“Six centres originally threatened with inclusion will not appear. Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Malta, Mauritius and San Marino pledged earlier this week to co-operate.”