Guernsey has signed further bilateral Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with Canada and Romania, taking the total number of TIEAs signed by the Island to 21.

On 19 January 2011 a bilateral TIEA was signed with Canada by Guernsey's Chief Minister, Lyndon Trott.

The Chief Minister said: "In view of the historical connections between Guernsey and Canada, I was delighted to welcome His Excellency Mr James R Wright, High Commissioner for Canada, to Guernsey, to sign the Agreement. While in the Island, His Excellency took the opportunity to meet with industry representatives with business connections in Canada.

"The signing of this TIEA, and the ongoing negotiations that Guernsey has with many other countries, clearly demonstrates the continued commitment to the OECD's principles of effective exchange of information, originally made in 2002. Guernsey remains in the premier league of tax transparency, an extremely important factor in a competitive global economy."

His Excellency, the High Commissioner, said: "The Channel Islands are really important for Canadian business and Canadian companies are very important to Guernsey because of the employment and revenues they generate for the Island. We believe this Tax Information Exchange Agreement will help our businesses based here grow, which will in turn benefit the local economy. Both Guernsey and Canada are committed to meeting the highest international standards of financial regulation and the agreement we signed today is proof of that."

Under the terms of a TIEA, Guernsey will, on request, exchange bank and other information relating to both criminal and civil tax matters. Signature of the TIEA with Canada will result in the tax exemption available in Canada for dividends received in Canada out of active business income earned by foreign affiliates applying to foreign affiliates of Canadian companies resident in Guernsey. It will also prevent the income of foreign affiliates resident in Guernsey becoming liable to tax in Canada as they are earned.

In view of the significance of the TIEA with Canada, the signing ceremony was also attended by Paul Patterson, Global Head of Trust, RBC Wealth Management; and Alan Pearce, Managing Director of RBC Trustees (Guernsey) Limited.

The bilateral TIEA with Romania was signed by the Chief Minister on 17 January 2011.

The Chief Minister said: "I am delighted to have signed this TIEA with Romania. Guernsey has now signed 11 TIEAs with Member States of the EU. As we already have Agreements relating to savings income with all EU Member States, having TIEAs with the same countries is a logical progression. Guernsey has also completed TIEA negotiations with a further five EU Member States."

Deputy Trott added:"In addition Guernsey has 13 further TIEAs, which have been finalised and are awaiting signature, or are very near conclusion, including most recently conclusion of the text of a TIEA with Japan. I hope it will be possible for all of these TIEAs to be signed during the course of 2011. In addition, Guernsey has negotiations at various stages ongoing with 14 further countries."

Guernsey has now signed Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with 21 territories: Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.

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