Guernsey removed from US ‘blacklist’

Guernsey's chief minister Lyndon Trott this week met with officials in Washington.

The meetings continued a dialogue started nearly a decade ago to strengthen ties between the Guernsey and US governments and reinforced Guernsey's reputation as a leader in tax transparency, information exchange and international co-operation.

This has led to a number of positive outcomes, with the latest example being Senator Levin this week unveiling a modified bill that no longer mistakenly lists the island as an "offshore secrecy jurisdiction". The chief minister has met numerous times with Senator Levin's chief investigator and counsel Bob Roach to discuss Guernsey's well-regulated financial sector, its lack of bank secrecy laws and its co-operative stance on tax information sharing and to object to the inclusion of Guernsey as a presumed secrecy jurisdiction.

Mr Trott said: "I was delighted to be advised this week that Guernsey would no longer be unfairly blacklisted in the Senator's legislation. Our continued dialogue with Senator Levin was instrumental in changing the legislation and I thank the Senator and his team for listening to the facts about Guernsey.

"The decision to no longer blacklist Guernsey is a major achievement that underscores the importance of having started and continuing the dialogue with politicians and government officials in Washington. We are delighted that our relationship with the US is not only recognised as important but that it continues to be judged by both governments as a success."