Bermuda was yesterday removed from an international list of "tax havens" after the Island reached the magic dozen of tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs).

Shortly after Finance Minister Paula Cox signed the Island's 12th agreement with the Netherlands, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) moved the Island onto its "white list" of countries considered to have substantially implemented international tax transparency standards.

Ms Cox said the Island remained committed to signing more TIEAs, including three more on negotiations that have already been concluded, and intended to reach agreements with all the G7 countries and major trading partners.

Opposition finance spokesman Bob Richards welcomed the news, but said the Island's "grey-listing" had been avoidable, with Finance Ministry's "sluggish approach" and complacency to blame.

The Island had been placed on the OECD's "grey list" of jurisdictions with fewer than 12 TIEAs to their name on April 2, under the sub-heading of "Tax Havens".

The promotion to the "white list" comes as a boost to the Island's reputation at a time when leaders of the world's largest economic powers are implementing measures to clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance through offshore centres.

Bermuda now joins those major powers on the OECD list, leaving behind many international business rivals, like the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Switzerland, on the "grey list".

Jeffrey Owens, director of the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said yesterday: "This is a very significant development for Bermuda. As it has signed 12 agreements, Bermuda is now shown in our Progress Report alongside other countries that have substantially implemented the standard.

"When we first issued the Progress Report, Bermuda had only three agreements but it has been able to rapidly implement the standard by signing nine agreements in two months.

"It is nevertheless essential that countries that reach this threshold continue to be open to negotiating agreements with other countries that approach them."

The OECD announcement came shortly after Deputy Premier Cox and Netherlands Deputy Minister Jon Kees de Jager signed the agreement at the Dutch embassy in London.

The Finance Ministry's Treaty Unit has concluded negotiations on three more TIEAs, with Germany, Mexico and Canada, all of which are expected to be signed before the end of the year.

The OECD statement also acknowledged: "Bermuda was one of the first jurisdictions to commit to the international standard of transparency and exchange of information in May 2000, and one of the jurisdictions that contributed to the development of the Model Agreement on Exchange of Information in Tax Matters in 2002."

Minister Cox said she was delighted to sign the TIEA that gave Bermuda its place on the "white list" and added: "Our jurisdiction has worked diligently for almost two decades to arrive at this juncture today."

She continued: "By Bermuda's proactive and high-level commitment to support the OECD initiative to implement standards of information exchange and transparency, we have worked assiduously to strengthen worldwide tax cooperation.

"It is significant that Bermuda had concluded 12 TIEA negotiations as of April 2, 2009, and as we noted at that time, we were confident that our TIEA partners would have completed the internal processes within due time to be able to sign the agreements.

"We shall continue to build upon our long standing position of transparency and cooperation which has, through the years, differentiated Bermuda from other jurisdictions."

Ms Cox added the Government was closing in on its goal to sign TIEAs with all G7 countries.

"Most importantly, Bermuda continues to not only meet but exceed standards set by the OECD Global Forum's annual assessments, and we are confident that we have the legislative framework in place to well position ourselves for the forthcoming model peer review process as our TIEA partners repeatedly publicly commend Bermuda on how well we effectively exchange information."

Last night, after arriving back at LF Wade International Airport, Minister Cox paid tribute to Wayne Brown, who heads the Ministry's Treaty Unit, and his team for their efforts.

She added: We have always asserted that Bermuda is an international financial centre and never belonged in the OECD's second tier and this is formal certification that we belong in the top tier.

"I'm also very glad that we are the first jurisdiction to move up from tier two to tier one."

The news had sparked interest among international media, including the British Broadcasting Corporation and Bloomberg News, she added. Shadow Finance Minister Mr. Richards said the news was "a good thing, but a late thing". The grey-listing had been avoidable, he said, and could have harmed the Island's reputation.

"The fact that we were grey-listed at all brings into question the effectiveness of the Finance Ministry's work," Mr. Richards said.

"There's a lot of finger-pointing at offshore financial centres and in those circumstances, you can't afford to have any slip-ups. In a benign environment, maybe this delay would not have been a big deal. But this is the most hostile environment we've seen in decades and so the standard of performance has to meet the imperatives of the current environment."

The Finance Ministry has said the OECD's deadline for the 12-TIEA standard was for later this year and not for April 2, when the Island had three signed TIEAs and another nine negotiated, but not signed.

But Mr. Richards said the Government should have realised the importance of signing 12 TIEAs by the time of the G20 Summit in London on April 2, after all the threatening rhetoric towards "tax havens" from world leaders in the three months before that.

"Bermuda could have completed this process more quickly than it did to avoid the stigma of being grey-listed," Mr. Richards added. "While we appreciate the Minister's inference that Bermuda was held up by slowness of the 'internal processes' of our TEIA partners, the fact is that Bermuda took nine years to fulfill its TEIA commitments to the OECD - a sluggish approach that resulted in a serious negative being attached to the Island at a crucial time.

"We hope the Minister has learned a lesson from this exercise - that there can be no complacency when it comes to upholding Bermuda's international reputation."

Last night Ms Cox described the UBP's criticism as "political sour grapes" and added that TIEAs were the product of a lengthy negotiation and ratification process.

She added that the Dutch had been a "particularly pleasant team" to work with.