European Union Publishes Its First Blacklist of Tax Havens, Naming 17 Territories

The European Union has published its first blacklist of tax havens, naming 17 territories including Saint Lucia, Barbados and South Korea.

The 17 blacklisted territories are:

• American Samoa
• Bahrain
• Barbados
• Grenada
• Guam
• South Korea
• Macau
• The Marshall Islands
• Mongolia
• Namibia
• Palau
• Panama
• Saint Lucia
• Samoa
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Tunisia
• United Arab Emirates

A "watchlist" of 47 countries promising to change their tax rules to meet EU standards has also been issued.

The "grey list" includes several with UK links, including Hong Kong, Jersey, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, as well as Switzerland and Turkey.

Both lists have been criticised as omitting the most notorious tax havens.

The lists follow the leaking of the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers, revealing how companies and individuals hid their wealth from tax authorities around the world in offshore accounts.

EU tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici said the blacklist represented "substantial progress", adding: "Its very existence is an important step forward. But because it is the first EU list, it remains an insufficient response to the scale of tax evasion worldwide."