Labuan International Business and Financial Centre Reinforces Commitment to Uphold International Standards

Jurisdiction Repositions Itself as a Midshore Business and Financial Centre

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (Labuan IBFC) remains resolute in its commitment to uphold its legal framework in line with internationally agreed standards and best practices.

This was the primary message communicated to Mr. Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, in a meeting between senior officials from Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA) and the OECD Centre in Paris on 13^th September 2013. One of the initiatives by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is to enhance tax transparency practices within the world's international financial centres.

"The meeting with OECD is important because it provided a stakeholder engagement platform for Labuan FSA to reiterate our position with regards to the regulatory and tax transparency framework, in particular to the effective exchange of information. The OECD Centre's continued endorsement is important for Labuan IBFC in its ambition to be the International Financial and Business Centre for ASEAN and the Asia Pacific," said Danial Mah Abdullah, Deputy Director General of Labuan FSA, at the meeting.

"To reflect its enhanced supervisory framework and compliance with internationally agreed standards and best practices, Labuan FSA has positioned itself as a midshore jurisdiction with a robust regulatory framework, and the flexibility and competitiveness of an international financial centre," added Saiful Bahari Baharom, CEO of Labuan IBFC Inc., the promotion arm of Labuan IBFC.

Labuan is presently on the OECD "white list" of jurisdictions that have substantially implemented internationally agreed tax standards under the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information and are deemed to have the necessary tax reporting and transparency framework in place. Initiatives undertaken to further strengthen Labuan IBFC's position as a regulated jurisdiction which adopts best practices and internationally agreed standards include:

• Labuan FSA is equipped with adequate powers to ensure Labuan entities comply with the statutory requirements, namely record-keeping, accounting, submission of information and powers of entry, search and seizure. 
• Labuan FSA issued a Directive to further clarify and reinforce the statutory requirements that Labuan entities must comply with, namely with respect to accounting and record-keeping.
• Section 22A of the Labuan Business Activity Tax Act 1990, which relates to the disclosure of information, was broadened to include Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA). This is in addition to the existing Double Tax Agreements signed by Malaysia with more than 74 countries.
• Labuan FSA is a member of international organisations including the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, Group of International Financial Supervisors, and Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG).
• Labuan IBFC is a full signatory to the International Organisation of Securities Commission's (IOSCO) Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation, Cooperation and the Exchange of Information.
• Labuan FSA signed a multilateral convention agreement with European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to strengthen investor protection and cooperation between jurisdictions.

ENDS