Cayman Islands law firm Maples & Calder says that Cayman and the BVI have an advantage over other offshore jurisdictions because they have ‘positively engaged’ with the EU over the Savings Tax Directive.
All Cayman and BVI funds are deemed to be non-UCITS equivalent and therefore “out of scope.” Accordingly, paying agents will not be required to make reports or withhold on the distributions regardless of the application of the asset test or the identity or residence of the recipient of the dividend or distribution.
“When the Cayman Islands and the BVI agreed to implement measures equivalent to the EUSD many anticipated an outflow of fund business from those jurisdictions,” says a spokesman for Maples & Calder. “Now that the details of the implementation have been published it is clear that the reverse is the case.”