The Government says it has for some months been working assiduously behind the scenes, with the assistance of Messrs Holland & Knight law firm in the USA, to persuade the District of Columbia of the fact that their published tax haven style blacklist was inaccurate in general and specifically so in the case of Gibraltar.

This work included the submission of significant amounts of technical detail by Gibraltar Finance under the supervision of Albert Isola, the Minister with responsibility for Financial Services. The District of Columbia announced the repeal of the tax haven list on Tuesday 3rd November.

Minister Isola said, "I am grateful to Gibraltar Finance and to Holland & Knight who have worked together seamlessly to achieve a very positive result. A number of Jurisdictions made representations to the US authorities on this list and we are pleased to have played our part. This has brought home the need to have strong partnerships in different countries to help us fight our corner when necessary. We are totally compliant and therefore remain determined to ensure that Gibraltar is removed from any remaining so called blacklists and we are working tirelessly to achieve this."