§ Mr. Graham BradyTo ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely implications for movement of capital into and out of Cayman Islands financial institutions as a result of compliance with the EU Draft Savings Directive if Switzerland(a) agrees and (b) does not agree to be bound by the directive. [83395]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe European Council meeting in Santa Maria de Feira on 20 June 2000 agreed that adoption of the EU draft Directive on Taxation of Savings was dependent on the EU receiving sufficient reassurances that relevant dependent or associated territories will adopt the same measures as EU Member States, and that six named third countries will adopt equivalent measures. The list of third countries includes Switzerland. The UK has sought the necessary reassurances from the dependent and associated territories only on the basis that equivalent measures are agreed with the named third countries.
The impact of the Directive on any jurisdiction will depend on a range of factors, including the volume of undeclared savings income that EU residents hold in the jurisdiction concerned.