UAE to work with EU to clear name from tax haven list
UAE banks to continue efforts to align with global regulations
Dubai: The UAE will work with the European Union (EU) to remove its name from a list of designated tax havens announced recently, according to Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, chief executive of Mashreq Bank and chairman of the UAE Banks Federation (UBF).
European Union finance ministers on Tuesday agreed to add 10 countries to a blacklist of alleged tax havens, including the UAE.
It comes just over a year after the EU agreed publish the names of those countries that it said lack transparency, leading to tax avoidance by multinationals and individuals.
Commenting on the development, Al Ghurair said, the EU action is the result of inadequate communications between the UAE and EU and this will be rectified at the earliest.
“As far as compliance to international standards, the UAE is fully committed. No effort will be spared in meeting with the governance standards,” he said.
The updated EU list includes existing names such as American Samoa, Guam, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago and US Virgin Islands, while new entries are Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Oman, Vanuatu and the UAE.
According to reports, the inclusion of the UAE in the list was objected by a number of European Union countries with Italy and Estonia pushing until the last minute.
“The UAE has tightened its anti-money laundering (AML) regulations in the recent years and has been working closely with all major global regulators. We will continue our efforts and will strive to communicate better with the rest of the world on what we are doing on AML efforts,” Al Ghurair said.