Minister of Financial Services Hope Strachan said it was a genuine alternative - offered by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - to implement the bilateral approach and a 2018 implementation date.

The bilateral approach was the Christie administration's policy position on the implementation of the OECD's common reporting standard (CRS) with regard to the automatic exchange of information (AEOI).

Strachan was referring to the OECD's attack on The Bahamas, by way of a recent unattributed Economist article, which blasted The Bahamas as a "holdout" and sought to smear the jurisdiction as a "tax haven of long standing".

She said, "Nothing could be further from the truth.

"The discontent and outright attack on The Bahamas for having made the choice is not only disingenuous but extremely unfair. Other countries have chosen the bilateral approach, but for whatever reason they are not being attacked.

"We now know that this attack will be sustained from other quarters," said Strachan while speaking at the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) annual general meeting.

But Strachan firmed that, "We have made our choice.

"The choice was made after careful consideration of all of the facts and circumstances relative to the jurisdiction, our economy and tax regime.

"Moreover, the decision was made with a clear understanding that the bilateral approach allowed us to adhere to all of the overarching principals and objectives of the OECD relative to automatic exchange of information and the common reporting standard.

"It stands to reason that if there was no alternative approach to signing onto the multilateral convention, The Bahamas would not have been able to make such a choice," said Strachan.

Going Forward
The government is currently working toward the 2018 commitment.

Strachan said, "My understanding is that the draft legislation, and guidelines is scheduled for release.

"A task force has established a strategic plan for the way forward, and together we are confident that we can meet the implementation date of 2018."

Xian Smith, Guardian Business Reporter

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