The French government has established a new list of 17 tax havens which include Switzerland, Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala, that can no longer cannot operate with the French Development Agency (AFD), revealed the newspaper Le Monde .
The AFD cannot acquire financial interests or transit through its investments these countries.
The list by alphabetical order; Botswana, Brunei, Costa Rica, Dominica, UAE, Philippines, Guatemala, Marshall Islands, Liberia, Montserrat, Nauru, Niue, Trinidad and Tobago and Vanuatu.
The Development Minister Pascal Canfin and environmentalist, is behind the initiative, which aims to show the exemplary nature of France at a time of international offensive against the opacity of tax havens.
Canfin explained that the composition of the list is the result of the Ministry of Finance, which stated that there were eight states or territories such as Brunei, the Philippines and the U.S. Virgin Islands which were identified by the Global Forum on Fiscal Transparency, to be linked to the OECD.
The intention is to ban all of these listed countries that operate with other French agencies other than the AFD, such as Public Investment Bank and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC).
The aim is to force greater transparency in company accounts.
Canfin estimated that since the decision was a breakthrough for the European summit last May to force all companies to show “transparency on its activities in all countries of the world.”
The G20 OECD has commissioned a review of international cooperation in the field of exchange of tax information, which could lead to a new “black list” in the future.
The French list promoted by the French Development holder was made public the same week that President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli Paris is visiting Paris.
Martinelli will participate in the annual International Economic Forum Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by the French Ministry of Finance, OECD and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
EFE
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose Costa Rica
