29 July 2011
Jersey's Assistant Chief Minister, UK and International Relations, Senator Freddie Cohen, has signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with Dr Ricardo Daniel Echegaray, Head of the Argentine Federal Administration of Public Revenues.
The signing took place on Thursday (28 July) at the Ambassador of the Argentine Republic’s Official Residence in London.
Senator Cohen said “The signing of a tax information exchange agreement with the Argentine Republic is a further significant step forward in achieving our objective of signing agreements with all of the G20 member countries. We fully share with the G20 its view that transparency and information exchange have an important role to play in international financial markets.
“In a letter handed to me at the signing ceremony, the Argentine Minister of the Economy has said that the signing of this agreement demonstrates the willingness of Jersey to commit to the fight against tax evasion and tax fraud, according to international standards on transparency and information exchange. Most importantly, he has gone on to say that once the Agreement enters into force and there is strong evidence of its effective application with respect to banking information, the Government of the Argentine Republic will take the necessary steps to amend the laws in their legal system so that all relevant ‘black lists’ do not have any effect on Jersey.
“In signing an agreement with Argentina, Jersey is also building on a long-standing business relationship with Argentina arising from the export of Jersey cows to that country, an export trade that commenced in 1905 and has resulted in a population of around 10,000 Jersey cows in Argentina. We look forward to developing an equally strong, if not a stronger relationship through the provision of financial services, for we see those services as playing a useful role in facilitating investment and business development between Argentina and Europe.”
The TIEA will come into force once Jersey has notified the Argentine authorities that the agreement has been ratified by the States of Jersey.
The TIEA is the same as those previously signed by Jersey with other countries, and provides for the exchange of information on request, which request has to be formulated in writing in accordance with the terms of the Agreement.
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