British Virgin Islands Among Top Destinations for Offshore Investments

The research was conducted in Netherlands looking at how particular countries and jurisdictions are used by corporations to minimize their tax liabilities. It was found that the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, Singapore and Switzerland are the five large countries most popular as intermediate destinations for corporations to access low-tax financial centres. The British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong and Jersey are the largest offshore financial centres in terms of investment volume.

The report says: "Our results show that offshore finance is not the exclusive business of exotic small islands far away... Countries such as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom play a crucial yet previously hidden role as conduits of offshore finance on its way to 'tax havens.'"