On June 17 the European Commission released its [Action Plan](http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5188_en.htm) on reforming corporate taxation in the EU, building on its Tax Transparency Package announced earlier this year.
The Action Plan also set out steps for greater tax transparency, within the EU and vis a vis third countries. As part of this initiative the EC has published a pan-EU list of third countries and territories blacklisted by Member States.
The Hon. C.V. Hope Strachan, M.P., Minister of Financial Services, issued a statement noting that *”it is regrettable the EU Blacklist does not take into consideration the significant efforts and accomplishments experienced by The Bahamas in the area of tax transparency, both within the EU and globally.”* (See attached)
##BFSB Response##
Responding to inclusion of The Bahamas on the list, BFSB CEO Aliya Allen says……
*“Given the full cooperation of many countries like The Bahamas on tax transparency it is highly disappointing that these types of blacklists exist today. The Bahamas has moved, in line with the rest of the world, to adopt the OECD Standard on the Automatic Exchange of Information.*
*The Bahamas is white-listed by the OECD and its 4th round mutual evaluation indicated that it was either wholly compliant or largely compliant with the criteria on tax information exchange.*
*We believe this type of a consolidated list means nothing if it fails to take into account the assessments of the true standards setting bodies. A consolidation of countries’ blacklists says nothing of the reasonableness of the criteria involved in creating them.”*