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Global rules on foreign direct investment (FDI)
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
Global | Publication | February 2023
The EU maintains the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (the EU Blacklist) to identify countries that in the view of the EU Commission, could be seen as allowing abusive tax practices– a charge that many of the jurisdictions would reject. It is a dynamic list, reviewed twice a year with frequent changes. On 14 February 2023, the European Commission updated the EU Blacklist to include the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, the Marshall Islands and Russia (the New Blacklisted Countries). The full EU Blacklist is now:
(the Blacklisted Countries)
These include:
To date, almost all EU Member States have implemented all or most of the defensive measures above, although the scope of the measures may vary across Member States: for example, the amount of withholding tax applied to payments to Blacklisted Countries may differ in different countries.
The UK has not enacted defensive measures directed at Blacklisted Countries.
The above measures will not apply automatically to the New Blacklisted Countries in all Member States: further affirmative action, such as the passing of additional legislation, may need to be taken by an individual Member State.
The EU Blacklist now includes some key shipping jurisdictions such as the Marshall Islands, the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands. EU entities which have involvement with these jurisdictions will need to consider whether this impacts any reporting obligations and whether any of the defensive measures will have implications for structures or transactions which those entities are involved with. It may be that some of the jurisdictions are already discussing their inclusion with the Blacklist with the EU Commission and so their inclusion may be short-lived.
If you would like to discuss this further, please get in touch with your usual Norton Rose Fulbright contact.
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