From Richard Miller, ActionAid; Daleep Mukarji, Christian Aid; Cathy Ferrier, Oxfam GB; Claude Bascompte, Friends of the Earth France; Aurélie Trouvé, ATTAC France; Dr Andreas Missbach, Berne Declaration; Antonio Tricario, Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale; Bernd Nilles, CIDSE; Nick Hillyard, Corner House; Nessa Ni Chasaide, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland; Alex Wilks, Eurodad; Petr Lebeda, Prague Global Policy Institute; John Christensen, Tax Justice Network; John Hilary, War on Want.
ON 12 March, at the invitation of a group of Jersey residents, our organisations sent representatives to a public seminar entitled ‘Offshore financial centres: past, present and future’. We are writing to set out our reasons for sponsoring the seminar, as we feel that they have been misinterpreted.

Many of us are international development organisations, and our experience in the field tells us that tax avoidance and evasion by multi-national companies are proving to be a major problem in the countries where we work. Multi-national tax evasion is estimated to cost developing countries $160 billion in public revenue each year. If paid, this revenue would mean more children could go to school, fewer people would live in absolute poverty, and the spread of life-threatening diseases could be halted.

We never intended to single out Jersey or any other state for specific criticism. In fact, we recognise that Jersey is in compliance with the international tax co-operation standard defined by the OECD. But we also share Gordon Brown and the G20’s concern that more needs to be done both to tackle harmful tax practices and to ensure developing countries can benefit from tax information exchange.

What we are calling for is a global automatic information exchange standard, which would apply to all states, large and small. This would allow tax authorities in developing countries to spot problems and recoup their money. An approach that works for developing countries would be one that relies on a multi-lateral system to create a level playing field, rather than one that singles out individual states or focuses on bilateral treaties.

We are keenly aware that such reforms could have repercussions for offshore financial centres such as Jersey, which is why we welcomed the invitation to participate in a conversation with Jersey residents about potential impacts on the Island’s economy, and how any resulting transition to a different economic structure could be managed justly. Jersey’s Chief Minister was invited to take part in this conversation on 12 March, but was unable to attend.

We are grateful to the people of Jersey for their long-standing commitment and support for developing countries, both individually and through the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission.
In the sprit of partnership we invite the people of Jersey to join us in shaping solutions that will deliver long term benefits for the people in developing countries that we share a desire to help.