Neu: 2002-04-01 Contents of this issue:
1. Cooks Clean 2. Numbers Game ======================================================================== April 1st, 2002 1. Cooks Clean: The OECD is removing the Cook Islands from its proposed blacklist of unco-operative tax havens after the tiny Pacific nation pledged to improve its tax and regulatory systems. However, Niue appears to remain in the OECD blackbook despite the country's promise to repeal offshore banking legislation on March 7. The legislation was never tabled in the Assembly because of alleged legal threats from a Niue registered bank operating in Greece. An OECD spokesperson would not reveal Niue's current status as of last week. Sources say the OECD may release the blacklist within days.Being dropped from the list means the Cook Islands avoids sanctions which would have kicked in next year. Nauru, Niue and Vanuatu have rejected the OECD demands. They called instead for the OECD to clean up its home turf first, saying reform was needed in Luxembourg, Switzerland and Singapore. The Cook Islands, made up of two dozen coral and volcanic islands 3500km northeast of New Zealand, is an independent state, although its 21,000 inhabitants have citizenship rights in New Zealand. It passed legislation in 1982 making it an international tax haven. Niue which is self governing in free association with NZ passed international banking and business company registration laws in 1994. The tiny country of 1700 residents receives about $2m from offshore transactions each year. Mathilda Urhle, commissioner of the Cook Island's Offshore Financial Services, said it was possible Government revenues earned from the six trustee companies licensed to operate in the Cook Islands might decline. "It's something that the Government is prepared to take a hit on ... we don't want any business that does not comply with the regulatory framework that the Cook Islands is trying to improve." Overseas financial services contributed about 8 per cent of the islands' gross domestic product, including about $2.8 million in direct income last year, she said. Under the new rules, financial institutions in the Cook Islands are required to have greater knowledge of their clients, their backers and the real beneficiaries of accounts. The institutions will also have to make their own background checks on clients rather than rely on checks carried out by other institutions. (Various / REUTERS). 2. Numbers Game: Many Niuean families get friends or relatives in New Zealand to buy a weekly Lotto ticket with the hope of striking a jackpot. But this week there are calls for a shake-up at Lotto, as profits continue to dive. Lotteries Board member Lindsay Tisch, who is a National MP, says because sales have been falling the board has had less money to put back into the community. Mr Tisch says Lotto's expenses are also going up. 14 staff members are paid more than 100-thousand dollars a year, and some are earning over 200-thousand dollars. He says there is also a high turnover of experienced staff. Mr Tisch says it is time Lotto management took a firm hold of the business, and started to put things right. __END__
