Guernsey agrees to Cameron tax deal

GUERNSEY has reaffirmed its commitment to tax transparency by pledging to take part in a pilot tax exchange scheme.

Chief Minister Peter Harwood met Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday to discuss tax, trade and transparency and stress the island's strong record on tackling tax evasion. The meeting, ahead of the G8 leaders summit today and tomorrow in Northern Ireland, was also attended by Deputy Harwood's counterparts from Jersey and the Isle of Man and the overseas territories.

The Crown Dependencies agreed on three main steps:

• to play an active part in exchanging tax information with the UK, Germany, Italy and France.

• to publish national action plans on beneficial ownership, which would force jurisdictions to open up on who owns secretive trusts.

• to commit to joining the Multilateral Convention and Mutual Administrative Assistance on Tax Matters, an initiative from the OECD.