Government's "inexcusable complacency" was to blame for Bermuda's grey-listing by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Acting Shadow Finance Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said yesterday.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin claimed Government has "scoffed" with arrogance every time the United Bermuda Party has raised concerns the Island's reputation is being eroded.

She was speaking after Jeffrey Owens, the director of the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said Bermuda had shown a lack of follow-up action since its commitment to international tax transparency standards nine years ago.

The UBP politician said in a statement: "It should be clear by now that the PLP Government is presiding over an erosion of Bermuda's International business reputation.

"This week's statement by a top official of the OECD that Bermuda did not do enough to avoid being grey-listed is the latest example of inexcusable complacency on the part of the Government that must concern everyone who wants our island to succeed.

"In our view, this complacency within the Government has seen Bermuda fail to deliver on key commitments in a timely manner to international regulators, carefully manage its public finances, and maintain our position in the world economy.

"In recent years, we have been watch-listed by the OECD, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and international ratings agencies."

Finance Minister Paula Cox said last week she believed Bermuda deserved to be in the top tier of OECD-ranked countries, given its commitment to OECD standards in 2000 and tax information exchange agreements negotiations that were well advanced when the list was drawn up last month.

On the grey list, the Island joins Liechtenstein, whose secretive banks have been the subject of a massive international tax evasion probe, and Switzerland, which committed to OECD standards only last month.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin cited two examples she claimed showed Government's complacency is damaging the national interest:

• "In 2007, the IMF failed Bermuda in eight of nine tests — a result that meant our financial regulatory system did not meet acceptable standards. What made this result so egregious was the fact that Finance Minister Cox failed to implement dozens of recommendations from an IMF inspection in 2003, even though she knew a return audit would follow. This was a gross abdication of responsibility to protect the public interest."

• "In June 2000, Ms Cox's father, the Honourable Eugene Cox, committed Bermuda to "an effective exchange of information" under the OECD Tax Cooperation initiatives by "adopting further legal mechanisms that allow tax information to be exchanged with other jurisdictions…" Nearly 10 years down the road, Bermuda is in a desperate scramble to fulfil this commitment — a scramble that clearly has not impressed international observers judging by the OECD's comments this week."

She continued: "The United Bermuda Party has been extremely concerned about the erosion in our hard-won reputation. But each time we have raised the alarm, the Government has scoffed at our concerns.

"This arrogance was on display last week when Finance Minister Cox dismissed as 'misinformed' and 'irresponsible' the concerns of my colleague, Grant Gibbons, who argued that her Government had let down the country 'terribly' by not moving in a timely way to sign tax transparency agreements that would have protected our reputation as a financial jurisdiction."

She pointed to Mr. Owens' comment: "Bermuda committed in 2000, but there has not been enough actions taken since that time. We're not interested in just commitment, we want to see to see tax information exchange agreements agreed and implemented swiftly."

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin added: "What makes our failure to get to the top tier so galling is that it did not have to happen.

"All that was required of us was to follow through on our word. But the Government did not do it and so, today, we are on the outs and our reputation is less than what it could be and should be."