Labuan, a jurisdiction in eastern Malaysia calling itself a “mid-shore” territory, has reiterated its commitment to uphold global financial standards such as transparency over tax.

Labuan, a jurisdiction in eastern Malaysia calling itself a “mid-shore”
territory, has reiterated its commitment to uphold global financial standards
such as transparency over tax.  

Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the Organisation For
Economic and Co-operation Centre for Tax Policy and Administration recently met
in Paris with senior
officials from Labuan IBFC. The OECD has been pushing to enhance tax
transparency practices within the world's international financial centres.

"The OECD Centre's continued endorsement is important for
Labuan IBFC in its ambition to be the International Financial and Business
Centre for ASEAN and the Asia Pacific," Danial Mah Abdullah, deputy director
general of Labuan Financial Services Authority, said in a statement yesterday.

"To reflect its enhanced supervisory framework and
compliance with internationally agreed standards and best practices, Labuan FSA
has positioned itself as a mid-shore jurisdiction with a robust regulatory
framework, and the flexibility and competitiveness of an international
financial centre," said Saiful Bahari Baharom, CEO of Labuan IBFC Inc.,
the promotional arm of Labuan IBFC.

Labuan is presently on the
OECD "white list" of jurisdictions that have substantially
implemented internationally agreed tax standards under the Global Forum on Tax
Transparency and Exchange of Information and are deemed to have the necessary
tax reporting and transparency framework in place.

Labuan FSA has issued a directive to clarify and reinforce
the statutory requirements that Labuan
entities must comply with, namely with respect to accounting and
record-keeping.

The jurisdiction has double tax agreements signed by Malaysia with
more than 74 countries.