Power in the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos Islands, British-owned, will be handed over in April, the representative of London. The reason for the elimination of the institutions of local self-government has been corruption scandal, which had involved local authorities. However, the appetites of local officials is hardly a real reason for the restoration of the Governor-General of the islands. Turks and Caicos Islands – offshore zones, and their return under the control of the metropolis is fully consistent with the concept of the EU to restore fiscal discipline and the identification of «gray» cash flows.

According to data announced by the Cabinet, Gordon Brown, the question of dissolving the government and parliament of Overseas Territories will be reviewed before the end of the month. After that, the ministers will agree on the candidacy of Governor-General to Queen Elizabeth II, and in April in London officer will full power on the islands in their own hands at least until 2011. Analysts do not doubt that the corruption scandal, which had involved representatives of local government Turks and Caicos – just an excuse, but not the cause. «Introduction of direct rule by London marketed within the EU the concept of bringing order to finance. And it started even before the crisis, when there were problems with the Swiss banks – old enough to remember the scandal surrounding offshore areas in Liechtenstein. It is possible that in a crisis, European Zone tax benefits would be eliminated definitively », – told RBC daily challenges head of the Center for European Integration Yuri Shevtsov. According to him, this is already happening with offshore in Iceland and Ireland, a similar process is in Liechtenstein. «EU strengthens internal discipline, and a zone from which you can evade taxes, in this construction do not fall», – noted the expert.

«Combating offshore did not start yesterday, and another in 1998, after the scandals around the Bank of New York. The current escalation of this process is linked primarily to the recent history of money clients of Swiss UBS, which also scroll through the tax-exempt zone. The situation, particularly in light of the crisis, is quite clear – investors want to save on taxes, the state does not want him to underpay what is owed, hence the pressure on Offshore », – told RBC daily senior analyst IR« Tsentrinvestgrupp »Vladimir Rozhankovsky. However, the manner of action in London until the end of the expert is not clear – according to Mr. Rozhankovskogo, It would be logical to start with a larger off-shore zones. «Turks and Caicos are not so popular – apparently, there is political will to restore order», – said the expert.

ANATOLY Pomortsev