Japanese officials were in Bermuda last week to negotiate a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with the Finance Ministry's Treaty Unit.

Finance Minister Paula Cox said in the House of Assembly on Friday that negotiations with Japan would be concluded "in the near future", bringing the Island's tally of TIEAs up to 16.

She added that a formal joint announcement regarding the negotiations will be released after the Japanese delegation returns home to receive formal acknowledgement from the relevant authorities.

Earlier this month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) moved the Island up to its top tier - or "white list" - of countries ranked by tax transparency, after Bermuda clinched its 12th signed TIEA with the Netherlands.

Ms Cox said the talks had gone well and the Japanese team, negotiating their country's first TIEA, intended to use the agreement with Bermuda as a blueprint for further agreements.

"The Japanese delegation advised that not only were they extremely pleased for Bermuda's recent progress, but appreciated that Bermuda has relied on bilateral and multilateral face-to-face negotiations from day one as the best means to ensure that our tax information exchange agreements were comprehensive, legislatively well-regulated, and that through our negotiations and our ongoing work to exchange information, we built lasting and meaningful relationships with our Treaty partners," Ms Cox told MPs.

"In fact, Mr. Speaker, Japan's negotiations with Bermuda represented Japan's first TIEA negotiations. Included in the negotiations were meaningful benefits for Bermuda such as the mini Double Taxation Agreement benefits for students, pensions and a clause for Prohibition of Prejudicial or Restrictive Measurers."

The head of the Japanese team is the co-chairman of the OECD's Sub-Group on the Level-Playing Field, which refined the process to assess countries' progress in implementing internationally agreed tax standards and which proposed the 12 TIEAs as the number required to make the "white list".

As well as its 12 signed TIEAs, Bermuda has also concluded negotiations with Canada, Mexico and Germany.

Ms Cox said the negotiations with Japan had been conducted in "a cordial and productive environment".

The Minister added: "The Ministry of Finance will ensure that our TIEA negotiations continue on the basis of mutual benefit and that the Government of Bermuda achieves its goal to have TIEAs in place with all G7 countries and other important international trading and commercial partners."