February 28, 2008	Thursday	Safar 20 ,1429

PARIS: Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development points to 41 countries as having tax-haven status according to four criteria.

The four criteria are: insignificant or non-existent tax levels, absence of transparency in tax matters, absence of fiscal data exchange with other countries and attractiveness for straw companies with fictitious activities.

Some jurisdictions have taken steps to boost transparency in their dealings with the OECD, which seeks to coordinate economic policies among the world’s leading industrialised nations.

Others, notably Liechtenstein, Andora and Monaco, exchange no information with other states.

However, of the total, 38 countries have made commitments to the OECD to ensure transparency and to exchange data:

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dutch Antilles, Aruba, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cyprus, Dominica, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Isle of Man, Marshall Islands,

Mauritious, British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands, Jersey, Liberia,

Maldives, Malta, Montserrat, Nauru, Niue, Panama, Samoa, Saint Kitts et Nevis, Sainta Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Tonga, Turks et Caicos, Vanuatu.

The OECD has labelled three states as non-cooperative Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco.—AFP