The European Union has removed the Cayman Islands from its list of jurisdictions regarded as non-cooperative for tax purposes.

The Cayman Islands was added to the EU’s Annex I blacklist in February, due to concerns at the EU Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) (CCG) that its economic substance requirements for collective investment funds (CIVs) were inadequate.

The Cayman Islands government said at the time that it had already enacted the reforms demanded by the CCG, albeit four days after the deadline. The Private Funds Law 2020 now requires the majority of closed ended private funds to register, which led to over 12,300 private funds registering with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority by August 2020. The CCG is now satisfied that the Cayman Islands legal framework for CIVs meets its test.

The same EU Council announcement also removed Oman from the blacklist, but added Anguilla and Barbados following their recent peer-review reports from the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum).

The current Barbados government has amended 14 pieces of legislation since assuming office. Its Minister of Industry and International Business, Ronald Toppin, described the listing as 'unthinkable' in the context of COVID-19. He intends to request a supplementary review from the Global Forum on the grounds that the deficiencies identified in its report have already been addressed through the passage of time.

The Seychelles has not been removed from the list. Its finance ministry has now finalised its amendments to the new Business Tax Act and promised to enact it with effect from 1 January 2021......