09 February 2015
The following points have been made to clarify the Government of Jersey's position on tax transparency.
Beneficial ownership
Jersey has been providing law enforcement and tax authorities around the world with information on the beneficial ownership of its companies for many years.
Stringent requirements for the incorporation of Jersey companies, together with regulation and supervision of trust and company service providers, ensure this information is accurate and current.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) judges jurisdictions against international standards, and a public register of beneficial ownership is not an international standard. A central register is evolving as an international standard and that is what Jersey already has.
Automatic exchange of information
The OECD has classed Jersey as largely compliant in applying the international standards on information exchange – this is a rating shared with the UK, the USA and Germany.
The World Bank has recognised Jersey as a leader in setting standards for beneficial ownership information for tax purposes.
Jersey is an Early Adopter for implementing the global Common Reporting Standard on Automatic Exchange of Information
Jersey was one of the 50 plus countries who signed a Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement in Berlin last October.
Jersey is fully supportive of automatic exchange of information, based on the US FATCA model being applied globally as a new international standard. Jersey is actively participating with the OECD in pursuing this goal.
Jersey is a vice-chair of the Automatic Exchange of Information working group of the Global Forum, which monitors the implementation of the new international standard. This is a reflection of Jersey’s international standing as a cooperative jurisdiction that complies with international standards
Engagement with UK
Jersey's government has, in the past, invited the Labour leadership to visit the island to discover the facts. This invitation will be re-issued.
gov.je