France Removes Bermuda from Tax Blacklist

Hamilton, Bermuda (ots/PRNewswire) -

The Hon. E.T. (Bob) Richards J.P., M.P., Minister of Finance,
announced today that the French Ministry of Finance has informed the
French Association of Financial Management (AFG) that "Jersey and
Bermuda have been informed that they will be removed from the list
for 2014, which means that the retaliation measures provided for by
law will not be applied." The French Ministry of Finance has also
directly informed the Bermuda Ministry of Finance.

Minister Richards offered his gratitude to French officials for
facilitating the meeting earlier this year between French and
Bermudian Ministry of Finance officials, adding that officials from
Bermuda are "pleased that Bermuda has now been delisted".

Minister Richards said: "I was impressed with the goodwill shown
by French officials in working with Bermuda officials to resolve the
matter before the end of the year. We were confident that any entry
on France's list would be very short-lived as Bermuda is globally
recognised as complying with the highest international standards on
tax transparency and compliance."

Minister Richards added, "I wish to thank His Excellency the
Governor of Bermuda and British Officials including the Chancellor of
the Exchequer in London who gave us support behind the scenes."

Yesterday Bermuda signed the US FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement
to assist the US to fight against tax evasion.

In September 2013, Bermuda joined the OECD Multilateral Convention
on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters to facilitate cooperation between
jurisdictions in the assessment and collection of taxes, in
particular to combat tax avoidance and evasion. This means Bermuda is
now among the leading international financial centers with
transparency agreements as Bermuda now has over 60 tax transparency
agreements when counting both bilateral and multilateral agreement
partners.

Notes to Editors

About Bermuda:

Bermuda is a self-governing British Overseas Territory in the
Atlantic Ocean covering approximately 21 square miles with an
estimated population of 64,867.

The economy of Bermuda is based primarily on international
business and tourism; in 2012 these sectors represented approximately
25.1% and 5.4%, respectively, of Bermuda's estimated nominal GDP of
$5.47 billion. The Government estimates that in 2012 the tourism
sector accounted for about 16% of employment. The estimated per
capita nominal GDP in 2012 was $84,402, one of the highest in the
world.

Bermuda is a leading international financial centre and is
considered the risk capital of the world with insurance assets
accounting for over 60% of all financial activity. It contributes up
to 100,000 jobs to the UK economy and, as a result of its robust but
flexible regulatory system and consumption-based tax system, large
numbers of leading international insurance companies operate in
Bermuda.

The territory has taken the lead in transparency and cooperation
on international taxation matters with 40 Tax Information Exchange
Agreements with 90% of the G20 and 76% of OECD and 52% of EU member
states.

Bermuda is rated AA- by Fitch Ratings Agency, Aa3 by Moody's
Investor Service and AA- by Standard and Poor's.

ots Originaltext: Government of Bermuda
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For additional information, please contact: Wayne Brown,
Assistant Financial Secretary, Government of Bermuda, +1 (441)
295-5151 /
wlbrown@gov.bm. Simon Brocklebank-Fowler, Managing Partner, Cubitt
Consulting, +44 (0)7919332721 / simon.brocklebank-fowler@cubitt.com.
Rose
Schreiber, Consultant, Cubit Consulting, +44 (0)20 7591 194 /
rose.schreiber@cubitt.com.