LONDON -- Offshore financial centres, including Bermuda, do not want to cooperate to fight common threats from the international Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the European Union and the UK.

But British financial consultant to the Gibraltar Government, Anthony Fisher, believes this is a big mistake.

A June survey by the Offshore Financial Review, a newspaper published by the Financial Times, found offshore jurisdictions overwhelmingly were not interested in speaking with one voice to try and ensure against any harmful action by the OECD or any other body currently probing their tax and regulatory regimes.

But Mr. Fisher, a partner in KPMG, said the world financial community wants the offshore centres to band together.

"It is totally obvious this is something that should happen,'' he said. "I am hearing this loud and clear. The industry -- the banks and financial institutions of the world -- are amazed the politicians from these centres have not got around the table yet. They are worried that one by one they are not presenting a unified front.

"Bermuda's constitutional rights as far as tax matters are identical to the Cayman Islands, BVI's and Gibraltar's, so why not put forward a united front -- to augment their arguments?'' He noted that almost all of the offshore centres are aloofly arguing they are not tax havens, "so why not argue this contention together?''.

Mr. Fisher also said there is no need for jurisdictions with "excellent reputations'' -- of which Bermuda is one -- to fear the OECD's initiatives. In the long run all they may mean, he feels, is that offshore centres will look different.

Offshore centres "I see them flourishing. The very well-regulated centres will succeed,'' he contended. "There will be less reliance on the core issues of tax exemption and confidentiality and new types of services and products will be encouraged.

Centres such as Bermuda are extremely well placed to adapt.'' From the OFR's survey, it appears so-called tax havens such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Channel Islands feel they have the best chance of staying off the OECD's forthcoming blacklist by arguing their own cases.

They also feel no two offshore centres are alike; some even dispute they are offshore centres. Secretly, it is likely they also do not like the idea of being lumped together with some of the less reputable offshore centres and prefer to present themselves as separate from the others.

The OFR survey said most of the offshore centres, given their stances, were doubtful the new World Association of International Financial Centres would succeed. Most felt it was not feasible for the Association to represent them.

Ifor Hughes, assistant financial secretary for the Bermuda Government, told OFR: "Bermuda is of the view that offshore centres are not a homogenous group, and that when reviewing these centres one must assess them individually.'' Mr. Hughes said that Bermuda has been making representations on its own behalf in response to the OECD, EU and UK initiatives. He added: "The Government of Bermuda, understandably, reserves the right to explore and pursue any legitimate options to ensure the island's economic wellbeing now and in the future.'' The Isle of Man shares Bermuda's views. IOM Treasury official John Cashin told OFR, "We are quite capable of answering any charges against us ourselves.

What other centres do is up to them.'' He added that seeking Independence would not really solve the problems because the OECD is targeting all offshore centres, independent of G7 nations or not.

Finance officials from the Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey also said a united front was not for them and that offshore centres would have to argue their cases individually since they are too diverse in their treatment of tax.

Meanwhile, officials from Dublin, Malta and Luxembourg disputed that they were even offshore centres.

"We would not see Ireland as an offshore centre in any sense,'' said David Smith, of Dublin's International Financial Services Centre. A Luxembourg Ministry of Finance spokesperson declared in the survey: "We are not an offshore centre any more, but are an onshore centre in the European Union. We therefore do not need any lobbying on behalf of offshore centres.'' The British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar were among the few jurisdictions who had any supporters for the idea of speaking with one voice.

BVI financial services director Robert Mathavious said "there is more to be done to correct the misconceptions that seem to be prevalent in the mindsets of the major governments (and) the users of offshore centres -- the international financial community -- could do a great deal more to support our cause.''