BVI removed from EU grey list, Cayman and Seychelles added to EU black list

27 February 2020
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On 18 February 2020, the European Union (EU) announced significant changes to the List of Non-cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes. 

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) was removed from the ‘grey list’ after being deemed to have fulfilled its obligations to the EU. 16 other jurisdictions were also given the all-clear, including the Bahamas, Belize and Curacao.

On the other hand, the Cayman Islands was placed on the ‘black list’. This was apparently a result of its failure to pass the required legislation regarding investment funds within the timeframe set by the EU. However, the relevant legislation has since been passed and deemed sufficient, and the Cayman authorities expect the jurisdiction to be removed from the ‘black list’ in late 2020, when the EU Council next review the List.

The Seychelles was also blacklisted, but the local government has now committed to addressing EU concerns at the earliest possible time, and is expected to be implementing Economic Substance legislation before the end of March 2020.

As the EU List now stands, there are now 12 jurisdictions on the ‘black list’ and 16 on the ‘grey list’.

The following shows the full EU List as of 18 February 2020:

Black list
  • American Samoa
  • Cayman Islands
  • Fiji Islands
  • Guam
  • Oman
  • Palau
  • Panama
  • Samoa
  • Seychelles
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • US Virgin Islands 
  • Vanuatu 
Grey list
  • Anguilla
  • Aruba
  • Australia
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • Dominica
  • Eswatini
  • Jordan
  • Maldives
  • Morocco
  • Mongolia
  • Namibia
  • North Macedonia
  • Thailand
  • Turkey
  • Saint Lucia

For a general understanding of what the EU List means, you can refer to our short video here

To find out how Vistra can assist you with Economic Substance requirements, reach out to us here or contact your Account Manager directly. 

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