St. Kitts and Nevis and Australia sign Tax Information Exchange Agreement

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas (left) and Australia’s Non-Resident High Commissioner to St. Kitts and Nevis His Excellency Philip Kentwell sign the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (photo by Erasmus Williams)

ST. KITTS, MARCH 8TH 2010 (CUOPM) – The existence of the necessary regulatory and supervisory institutions augurs well for the overall development of the Federation’s financial services industry, St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said on Friday.

Signing a Tax Information Agreement with Australia, Prime Minister Douglas noted that one of the new planks of the economy of St. Kitts and Nevis is financial services and St. Kitts and Nevis wants to ensure compliance with international standards of transparency and appropriate accountability.

“We are very pleased as a country to come to a point where we feel comfortable that what we are doing here today will be to the benefit of those in Australia and those here in St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the St. Kitts Investment Promotion Agency (SKIPA), Ms. Shawna Lake (left) assists in the signing of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement between St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas (center) and Australia’s Non-Resident High Commissioner to St. Kitts and Nevis, His Excellency Philip Kentwell (right)

Australia’s Non-Resident High Commissioner to St. Kitts and Nevis, His Excellency Philip Kentwell said he has been observing from his Port of Spain, Trinidad office, that St. Kitts and Nevis, under the leadership of Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, has been taking several initiatives on the issue of tax information agreements.

“I want to congratulate your Government for the leadership in that direction, because as we appreciate, the whole financial services industry is one which we need to ensure is managed carefully to encourage the confidence and this agreement between our two countries is going to further strengthen the relationship that we already enjoy,” said the Australian official.