Move to blacklist Switzerland as tax haven
Switzerland should be placed on a blacklist of uncooperative tax havens, an international conference has been told.
Representatives from 17 countries gathered in Paris on Tuesday for a meeting on transparency and agreed that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) needed to update its blacklist of tax havens by mid-2009.
Switzerland turned down an invitation to attend the meeting last week.
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück told a press conference that Switzerland deserved to be on the list and criticised the Swiss government for inadequate cooperation on tax matters.
“I am not questioning the sovereignty of Switzerland or Liechtenstein. It is Germany’s sovereignty that has been harmed by the conditions offered by certain countries,” he said.
“Secret banking has reached its limits. Switzerland has made progress but we need to go even further,” added French Budget Minister Eric Woerth.
Currently only Liechtenstein, Andorra and Monaco are on the OECD blacklist of uncooperative tax havens.
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