Bermuda should not be lumped in with offshore centres that encourage tax-dodging, the Bermuda Business Development Agency said today.

The BDA hit out after a massive leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which have sparked probes around the world.

But a spokeswoman for the BDA said: “Some of the recent reporting on the Panama papers perpetuates the myth that all offshore financial centres are the same.

“The fact is Bermuda is different. While there may be businesses, service providers and lax regulatory environments around the world that enable illegal tax evasion — Bermuda is not one of them.”

The spokeswoman added: “Bermuda has an extremely positive global reputation built on transparency, compliance and co-operation — these attributes have been differentiating hallmarks of the jurisdiction for decades.”

And she pointed out that Bermuda’s tax regime had won seals of approval from the EU with its award of Solvency II equivalence, one of only two non-EU countries to gain the distinction, while the US National Association of Insurance Commissioners had made the island a “qualified” jurisdiction.

The BDA statement added: “Bermuda understands and embraces the worldwide movement towards greater financial transparency and regulatory co-operation.

“Bermuda does not have laws that promote and protect banking secrecy. Bermuda complies with global anti-money-laundering directives and antiterrorist financing standards.

“And Bermuda has had a beneficial ownership register in place for 60 years.

“Bermuda’s 90-plus tax-transparency treaties with countries around the globe underscore Bermuda’s commitment to co-operation and compliance. Bermuda’s track record shows that when asked to assist international authorities, Bermuda has cooperated.

“Homogenising ‘offshore’ and dumping all international financial centres into one bucket synonymous with immoral, illegal and nefarious activity is inaccurate and ill-informed.

“Bermuda is different.”

According to the Panama leaks website, the top three most-mentioned countries are the British Virgin Islands, a UK Overseas Territory, Panama and the Bahamas.

They are followed in the top ten by the Seychelles, Niue, Samoa, the UK Overseas Territory of Anguilla, the US state of Nevada, Hong Kong and Britain.

Jonathan Dunlop, chairman of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, added that Bermuda’s list of tax treaties, the common reporting standard and central registry for company ownership left Bermuda “in a strong position”.

He added: “And, given we are not part of the Panama leak network, I think that further evidences the jurisdiction’s commitment to compliant business.

“I believe that this should continue to place us well with the international tax advisers who recommend jurisdictions for their international clients to safely centralise family wealth.”

The BDA said that Bermudian-based companies had forked out $35 billion over 12 years to cover US catastrophe losses and paid 9 per cent of the claims resulting from the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

In addition, the UK got 20 per cent of last winter’s flood losses from the Bermuda insurance industry and the country also provides more than a quarter of the capacity for the Lloyd’s of London insurance market.

And Bermuda paid 62 per cent of the claims resulting from Britain’s biggest peacetime fire and explosion — the 2005 Buncefield oil terminal fire.

The BDA spokeswoman said: “Thanks to Bermuda, cities, coastlines, homes and businesses are rebuilt after major disasters.

“Bermuda’s positive contribution should not be underestimated or overlooked.

“Overall, Bermuda’s economic model supports close to a half-a-million jobs globally through trade and investment, including some 350,000 jobs in the US and more than 100,000 in the UK.”

The files show how Mossack Fonseca clients were able to launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax.