SUPPLEMENTARY PEER REVIEW REPORT Phase 2 Legal and Regulatory Framework

SUPPLEMENTARY PEER REVIEW REPORT Phase 2 Legal and Regulatory Framework SAINT LUCIA PourFor plus more de renseignementsinformation ForumGlobal mondial Forum onsur Transparency la transparence and et l’échangeExchange de renseignementsof Information for à Taxdes Purposesfins fiscales www.oecd.org/fiscalite/transparencewww.oecd.org/tax/transparency www.eoi-tax.org Email: [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS – 3 Table of Contents About the Global Forum 5 Abbreviations 7 Executive summary �� 9 Introduction �� 13 Information and methodology used for the peer review of Saint Lucia �� 13 Overview of Saint Lucia �� 15 Recent developments ��17 Compliance with the Standards �� 19 A. Availability of information 19 Overview �� 19 A1 Ownership and identity information 21 A2 Accounting records 41 A3 Banking information 51 B. Access to information �� 55 Overview �� 55 B1 Competent Authority’s ability to obtain and provide information �� 57 B2 Notification requirements and rights and safeguards �� 63 C. Exchanging information 67 Overview �� 67 C1 Exchange of information mechanisms 68 C2 Exchange of information mechanisms with all relevant partners 73 C3 Confidentiality 74 SUPPLEMENTARY PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – SAINT LUCIA © OECD 2016 4 – TABLE OF CONTENTS C4 Rights and safeguards of taxpayers and third parties 76 C5 Timeliness of responses to requests for information 77 Summary of determinations and factors underlying recommendations �� 81 Annex 1: Jurisdiction’s response to the review report 89 Annex 2: List of all exchange-of-information mechanisms in effect 90 Annex 3: List of all laws, regulations and other material received 92 Annex 4: People interviewed during on-site visit 93 SUPPLEMENTARY PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – SAINT LUCIA © OECD 2016 ABOUT THE GLOBAL FORUM – 5 About the Global Forum The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes is the multilateral framework within which work in the area of tax transparency and exchange of information is carried out by over 130 jurisdictions, which participate in the Global Forum on an equal footing The Global Forum is charged with in-depth monitoring and peer review of the implementation of the international standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes These standards are primarily reflected in the 2002 OECD Model Agreement on Exchange of Information on Tax Matters and its commentary, and in Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and its commentary as updated in 2004 The standards have also been incorporated into the UN Model Tax Convention The standards provide for international exchange on request of foreseeably relevant information for the administration or enforcement of the domestic tax laws of a requesting party Fishing expeditions are not authorised but all foreseeably relevant information must be provided, including bank information and information held by fiduciaries, regardless of the existence of a domestic tax interest or the application of a dual criminality standard All members of the Global Forum, as well as jurisdictions identified by the Global Forum as relevant to its work, are being reviewed This process is undertaken in two phases Phase 1 reviews assess the quality of a jurisdiction’s legal and regulatory framework for the exchange of information, while Phase 2 reviews look at the practical implementation of that framework Some Global Forum members are undergoing combined – Phase 1 and Phase 2 – reviews The Global Forum has also put in place a process for supplementary reports to follow-up on recommendations, as well as for the ongoing monitoring of jurisdictions following the conclusion of a review The ultimate goal is to help jurisdictions to effectively implement the international standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes All review reports are published once approved by the Global Forum and they thus represent agreed Global Forum reports For more information on the work of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, and for copies of the published review reports, please refer to wwwoecdorg/tax/transparency and wwweoi-taxorg SUPPLEMENTARY PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – SAINT LUCIA © OECD 2016 Abbreviations – 7 Abbreviations AML Anti-Money laundering CARICOM Caribbean Community and Common Market CDD Customer due diligence CTF Counter Terrorism Financing DTC Double Tax Conventions ECCB East Caribbean Community Bank EOI Exchange of information FIA Financial Intelligence Authority FSRA Financial Services Regulatory Authority IBC International Business Company IRD Inland Revenue Department ITC Act International Tax Cooperation Act MLPA Money Laundering (Prevention) Act OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECS Organisation of East Caribbean States TIEA Tax Information Exchange Agreements SUPPLEMENTARY PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – SAINT LUCIA © OECD 2016 EXecutive summary – 9 Executive summary 1. In 2014, the Global Forum evaluated Saint Lucia for its implementation of the standard in practice and in August 2014, the report was adopted with an overall rating of Partially Compliant This supplementary report evaluates the progress made by Saint Lucia since that time In light of the various legal and practical amendments made by Saint Lucia since that time, this report concludes that Saint Lucia is now rated overall as “Largely Compliant” 2 The Phase 2 report concluded that Saint Lucia was Compliant for elements A3 (Availability of Banking Information), B2 (Rights and Safeguards), C1 (EOI Mechanisms), C2 (Network of EOI Mechanisms) C3 (Confidentiality), C4 (Rights and Safeguards) Largely Compliant for elements A1 (Availability of Ownership and Identity Information) and C5 (Exchanging Information), Partially Compliant for element B1 (Access to Information), and Non-Compliant for element A2 (Availability of Accounting Information) 3. Since the time of the Phase 2 report, the legal and practical implementation of the standard for elements A3, B2, C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5 have remained unchanged The rating for these elements (as was the case at the time of the Phase 2 report) is as follows: Compliant for elements A3, B2, C1, C2, C3 and C4 The rating for element C5, as was the case at the time of the Phase 2 report, is “Largely Complaint” 4. For element A1, the Phase 2 report concluded that although Saint Lucia has a solid legal and regulatory framework, due to a lack of regular system of oversight regarding entities compliance with ownership and identity information requirements in practice, Saint Lucia was rated as “Largely Compliant” In the second half of 2014, the financial regulator of Saint Lucia, being the FSRA, introduced new monitoring measures to address some of the shortcomings identified in the Phase 2 report and has actively monitored licensed entities compliance with ownership requirements since that time Nevertheless, it remains that the supervisory activities carried on by the FSRA do not cover all relevant entities in Saint Lucia While the Company and IBC Registrar also commenced monitoring activities over the review SUPPLEMENTARY PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – SAINT LUCIA © OECD 2016 EXecutive summary – 10 period, these are still at the initial stages and apart from some striking off of entities from the Companies and IBC Registrars, there is no evidence of fines being imposed in practice Therefore, the rating for element A1 remains “Largely Compliant” 5. In respect of element A2, at the time of the Phase 2 report, Saint Lucia was found not to have the legal requirements in place in order to ensure that all accounting information including underlying documenta- tion in line with that as set out under the standard was being maintained In August 2015, Saint Lucia introduced amendments to the International Tax Cooperation (ITC) Act, the International Business Companies (IBC) Act, the International Partnerships Act and the International Trusts Act ensuring that legal requirements to maintain accounting information in line with the standard are now in place for all

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