OECD to tighten tax haven criteria?

Jeffrey Owens, director of the OECD's tax policy and administration, has suggested that its criteria for allowing jurisdictions to get onto its white list could be tightened. As Reuters reports:

"The OECD will now focus on assessing the extent to which the standards are met in practice, and seek to close loopholes in implementation. "If we see a small jurisdiction which has 12 agreements (on information disclosure) with countries with which they have no economic ties at all, to me that is not playing the game," (Owens) said."

We shall wait and see whether the OECD follows through with anything meaningful. We hope so.

Owens is right to say in this story that the OECD push has spurred jurisdictions to make changes in a positive direction. Yet as we and many others have explained, the OECD's criteria are hopelessly feeble and need a massive tightening. If this happens, it would be a positive step - leaving a very, very long way to go. Read more here.