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Offshore Banking Cayman While the Bahamas has the right to feel a little smug with itself the Cayman Islands appears to be getting twitchy.
Readers may remember that when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development first unveiled its list of tax havens, Cayman was not on it. This was because the islands were part of a group of six - the others being, Bermuda, Cyprus, Malta, Mauritius and San Marino - that agreed to co-operate with the OECD to eliminate “harmful tax practices”. Offshore Banking Cayman & Countries Like Cayman So perhaps it has just dawned on Cayman exactly what it has pledged to reform. “Countries like Cayman, which have built successful economies on monies coming from people looking for low-tax centres, must fight with everything they have, to preserve their livelihood,” the island piped up.
Not quite the voice of a jurisdiction that has agreed to co-operate. “In this light, Cayman Islands may well strengthen its bargaining position by employing international consultants skilled in negotiation and by holding its ground with others countries in a similar position,” the island went on.
“For in this fight, size need not be an inhibiting factor. It is known that this little mouse has been known to roar.” Unfortunately for Cayman, its call has been ignored by some of its neighbours. Grenada now says it wants to co-operate with the OECD member states and thinks other jurisdictions should do the same.
“I hope that the message comes out that we need to co-operate together to deal with whatever is perceived to be the problem,” Grenada prime minister Dr Mitchell said. “In other words, if it is perceived that money laundering can be a problem, we do not want it. And if the OECD is confident that it is a real issue, then expect them to work together with us to solve it.” Offshore Banking Cayman - Big Hammer “It must not be a big hammer coming down on our heads. We must sit down together and look at the problems,” he continued, “which are now occurring, and find ways of collectively solving them. We hope that the biggest result coming from the meeting is the understanding that we must sit down and work this thing out together.” Meanwhile, up north a bit, Bermuda, normally a bastion of highly reputable business, is having its name muddied by a UK Inland Revenue investigation into a trust that may be run by Harrods’ boss Mohamed al-Fayed.
The Revenue is said to be studying a complicated tax avoidance scheme which allows Fayed to draw no salary from Harrods but lets him benefit from dividends - totalling millions between 1995 and 1998 - paid by Harrods Holdings to the Bermuda trust. 
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