Cayman Islands Extends Tax Cooperation Assistance to Seven New Countries

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands - The Cayman Islands Government today announced the extension of
comprehensive tax information assistance to seven new countries, under
provisions in the Tax Information Authority Law introduced in 2008, which do
not require a bilateral treaty.

The seven countries now able to request tax information from the Cayman
Islands under this unilateral mechanism are Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech
Republic, Luxembourg, Slovak Republic and Switzerland. Requests may be made
in relation to both civil/administrative and criminal tax matters.

“The Cayman Islands was one of the first jurisdictions to commit to OECD
standards for transparency and exchange of information in tax matters. We
have upheld that commitment by working with OECD and non-OECD colleagues to
design effective standards, by reflecting those standards in our domestic
regime, and then embarking on a programme to extend assistance arrangements
to other countries; the first being our tax information agreement with the
U.S. signed in 2001,” said the Leader of Government Business, the Honourable
Kurt Tibbetts.

Minister Tibbetts added, “Our actions today in extending tax information
assistance to seven more countries is the culmination of many months of
technical work, and we are especially grateful to Germany for the insight
they were able to provide by virtue of having a unilateral mechanism for
cooperation in tax matters themselves.”

The unilateral mechanism is complementary to Cayman’s bilateral
negotiation programme. The latest development in that area was the conclusion
of technical negotiations with the Nordic countries for a series of bilateral
agreements, including tax information agreements. The seven tax information
agreements are currently going through the political authorisation process on
both sides, to enable execution at a signing ceremony in Stockholm on 1 April
2009, with the commercial agreements to follow in June 2009.

Minister Tibbetts concluded by stating that the Cayman Islands also looks
forward in the immediate term to concluding bilateral arrangements with the
United Kingdom.

For more information
Ted Bravakis
Director, Public Relations Unit
Portfolio of Finance & Economics
P +1-345-244-2266
E ted.bravakis@gov.ky
www.caymanfinance.gov.ky

Notes to Editors

– The Nordic countries comprise Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland,
Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

– With the announcement of the seven new arrangements, the Cayman
Islands has a total of 15 tax information arrangements.

– The Cayman Islands’ competent authority for tax cooperation
arrangements is the Tax Information Authority, established under the Tax
Information Authority Law, 2005. More information on the Authority can be
found on www.tia.gov.ky.

– In addition to arrangements under the OECD initiative, the Cayman
Islands has had agreements in effect since 2005 with the 27 EU member states
under which it reports savings income information pursuant to measures
equivalent to the European Union Savings Directive.

– The Cayman Islands has been an active participant in the OECD Global
Forum on Taxation, having been one of the first non-OECD jurisdictions to
adopt (in 2000) the principles of transparency and exchange of information,
based on a level playing field.

Source: Portfolio of Finance & Economics

Ted Bravakis, Director, Public Relations Unit, Portfolio of Finance & Economics, +1-345-244-2266, ted.bravakis at gov.ky