Caribbean finance
centres are hitting back at attempts to portray them as shady tax havens.
They say world leaders are making them scapegoats for the global down turn.
It's a nice diversion to blame the evil guys in the Caribbean instead of laying blame where it belongs, says one estate developer in the Cayman Islands.
He was responding to statements coming out of the G20 meeting of more tough action to bring order to the world's financial system.
Leaders of the group of 20 economic powers meeting in Pittsburgh on Friday on global economic issues launched a campaign in April to name and shame tax havens and penalize those which failed to tighten tax standards and transparency.
But several government and business chiefs from prominent offshore centres say the anti-tax have finger pointing by the world's richest and most powerful governments is hyprocitical.
They say it seeks to shift blame away from their own failed policies and lax regulations.
The Cayman, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda have recently signed further tax treaties in keeping with demands of the G20.
In the United States alone offshore tax havens are estimated to deprive the US Treasury of $100 billion a year. Official efforts to track down tax dodgers have gained pace as the Obama administration seeks to collect more revenues without raising taxes to offset its vast and growing budget deficit.
With pressure mounting on the sector to be even more transparent some experts are suggesting shifting away from clients in the United States, Europe and Canada to new wealthy customers in emerging powers like Brazil, China, Nigeria, Russia and India.
They say world leaders are making them scapegoats for the global down turn.
It's a nice diversion to blame the evil guys in the Caribbean instead of laying blame where it belongs, says one estate developer in the Cayman Islands.
He was responding to statements coming out of the G20 meeting of more tough action to bring order to the world's financial system.
Leaders of the group of 20 economic powers meeting in Pittsburgh on Friday on global economic issues launched a campaign in April to name and shame tax havens and penalize those which failed to tighten tax standards and transparency.
But several government and business chiefs from prominent offshore centres say the anti-tax have finger pointing by the world's richest and most powerful governments is hyprocitical.
They say it seeks to shift blame away from their own failed policies and lax regulations.
The Cayman, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda have recently signed further tax treaties in keeping with demands of the G20.
In the United States alone offshore tax havens are estimated to deprive the US Treasury of $100 billion a year. Official efforts to track down tax dodgers have gained pace as the Obama administration seeks to collect more revenues without raising taxes to offset its vast and growing budget deficit.
With pressure mounting on the sector to be even more transparent some experts are suggesting shifting away from clients in the United States, Europe and Canada to new wealthy customers in emerging powers like Brazil, China, Nigeria, Russia and India.
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