Report: Swiss Will Profit from Bermuda Woes
Switzerland is going to continue to profit from increasing international regulatory and political pressure being brought to bear on Bermuda, financial analysts say according to Swissinfo.
According to the report, Bermuda and other small international business domiciles remain highly vulnerable to moves in Washington to repatriate corporate earnings and continue to lag behind long-established jurisdictions like Switzerland in terms of global regulatory compliance.
“Small offshore islands, such as Bermuda and the Caymans, have been the first tax havens targeted in a vigorous crackdown by US President Barack Obama,” said the report. “Many firms have set up operations in offshore havens to avoid high corporate taxes on overseas profits that are repatriated to the US.
“Obama’s legislative assault was supposed to repatriate tax revenues to the US, but the early response from companies has been to relocate to Europe. Switzerland and Ireland have been the most popular destinations for setting up new domiciles. Switzerland’s low corporate tax regime was a compelling reason for Tyco Electronics, the world’s largest supplier of electronic connectors, to announce last year that it would reincorporate its business from Bermuda to Switzerland.”
As a member the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and having negotiated double taxation treaties with the world’s major economies, Switzerland — a long-established European banking and financial services centre — also has greater defences against the US tax haven crackdown, analysts claimed in the report.
