Caribbean offshore financial centres, the international economy and the role of accountants

Offshore Financial Centres (OFCs) have flourished by providing a range of attractive opportunities to investors and contributing to the reduction of economic dependency in their host countries. They have developed side by side with contemporary globalization. Technological advances and the de-regulation of cross-border transactions have made OFCs accessible to a worldwide base of clients and assisted in fostering both positive and negative reputations for these jurisdictions. In recent years several multilateral organisations have issued recommendations aimed at maintaining international financial stability and improving global governance. OFCs have come under pressure to improve their financial regulation and supervision in line with these standards. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)'s harmful tax competition initiative, aimed at restraining 'harmful' tax practices that erode the tax revenue bases ofOECD countries, is representative of such measures. By investigating the offshore phenomenon within· the small island state environment in the context of global governance this research argues that there is diversity in the combinations of characteristics and products that attach uniqueness to individual OFCs. Such uniqueness ought not to be underestimated by internal or external policymakers as it helps determine how OFCs operate and how they react to the various local and global factors that impact them. The research further examines the responses of Caribbean OFCs to recent multilateral initiatives to present an alternative perspective to the imposition of standards by international organisations and underscore the importance of the offshore sector to small island economies that try to control their own destiny. While significant initiatives may be set at a global level there are implications for professionals such as accountants faced with regulatory issues at both local and global levels. This research considers the significance of a particular location for the obligations of profession accountants with explicit public interest commitments working in an arena very much concerned with matters of self- and private- interest.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo