§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the British overseas and dependent territories with which exchange of information agreements have been agreed(a) for tax and (b) financial regulation purposes, 1013W indicating the date of such agreement; and if he will list separately those overseas and dependent territories with which no such agreement yet exists. [17728]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 26 November 2001]: For tax purposes, the UK has Double Taxation Arrangements with Guernsey (1952), Isle of Man (1955) and Jersey (1952) (all Crown Dependencies), and the Falkland Islands (1997) and Montserrat (1947) (both Overseas Territories) which include provisions for the exchange of information for tax purposes. The UK has no such agreements with the remaining Overseas Territories, ie Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Pitcairn Islands, St. Helena and its Dependencies (St. Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan de Cunha), South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands.
For financial regulatory purposes, the Overseas Territories of the Caribbean and Bermuda and Gibraltar have in place gateways which allow for the exchange of information with overseas regulators including the UK. The territories of the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands and British Virgin Islands have introduced "compulsory powers" legislation to enable investigative assistance to overseas regulators to be provided. Bermuda's existing regulatory powers are being strengthened. Anguilla has compulsory powers legislation in draft.
The Crown Dependencies have Memorandums of Understanding providing for exchange of information with a range of UK regulatory bodies.