Speaking recently before the European Parliament’s TAXE2 Committee, Minister of Financial Services Wayne Panton outlined how the Cayman Islands financial services industry supports the global economy, and the number of extensive mechanisms through which Cayman collaborates with other countries in international tax matters.

Minister Panton addressed the committee on 18 April, following an invitation by its members to discuss ‘the specific features of your corporate tax system and recent developments both at EU and OECD levels in relation to the issues of tax avoidance, exchange of information and base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS)’.

‘The meeting gave Cayman a remarkable opportunity to define key features of our economic model for European Union lawmakers’, Minister Panton said. ‘In particular we explained how our consumption-based tax model ably supports our public finances, and how our mechanisms support the rights of other countries to be able to enforce their tax laws’.

Minister Panton thanked the Ministry staff, and financial services industry association Cayman Finance, for their assistance in preparing for the meeting. He was accompanied to the meeting, which was held in Brussels, by the Director of the Department for Financial Services Policy and Legislation, Michelle Bahadur; and the Director of the Department for International Tax Cooperation, Duncan Nicol.

The TAXE2 committee was established by the European Parliament in December 2015, for a six-month timeframe. At the European and international level, the committee focuses on harmful corporate tax regimes with the aim of fighting tax evasion and aggressive tax planning, notably by increasing transparency and cooperation between governments and between national parliaments.
UK Crown Dependencies Jersey and Guernsey; Overseas Territories Bermuda and Gibraltar; as well as Andorra, Lichtenstein and Monaco, also have addressed the committee, on similar subjects.