G-20 Finance Ministers call for sanctions against tax havens
The G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors, meeting in London on 5 September 2009, called for its members to be ready to use countermeasures against tax havens from March 2010.
The group's "Declaration on Further Steps to Strengthen the Financial System" also called for members to deliver an effective programme of peer review, capacity building and countermeasures to tackle non-cooperative jurisdictions that fail to meet regulatory standards, anti-money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism standards, and tax information exchange standards.
The declaration asks the Financial Stability Board, an oversight body created by G-20 leaders in April, to report by November on the compliance of non-cooperative jurisdictions with regulatory standards. Members are also to ensure that developing countries benefit from the new tax transparency, possibly including through a multilateral instrument.
The support for tax haven sanctions came only two days after the governments of France, Germany and the UK called jointly for the G-20 to draw up countermeasures for use against tax havens.
G-20 leaders will attend a summit September 24-25 in Pittsburgh, at which time they will consider the recommendations of the finance ministers and central bankers.
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