Show me the money!

Bermuda had a reason to be out and out, loud and proud about its dollars this week, or to be more precise its $2 bill. The $2 scooped... wait for it...  'Banknote of the Year Award by the International Banknote Society' over NINE other competitors. I've got to admit though it's real pretty!

According to www.banknotenews.com (yes really!), the judges said: "The combination of colours were appealing and blended well throughout all components of the design. Additionally, the range of items depicted on the note were attractively presented and allowed the eye to linger and to search for natural and historical design elements which were not immediately apparent." 

The award-winning note portrays the Bermuda Bluebird on the front and the Dockyard Clock Tower and Statue of Neptune on the back, along with HRH Queen Lizzy so it retains that air of Britishness.

Bermuda hasn't always been so public about it's money, not until recently anyway, when Obama's crackdown on tax havens forced it to be open and honest. So it's no more secret squirrels! 

When talking about the Cayman Islands and a building was found to have over 12,000 business headquarters listed there, Obama delivered a superb quote: "[this is] either the largest building in the world or the largest tax scam in the world"!! The situation here is not so far off. The Bermuda Registrar of Companies reports that at the end of March 2010 there were 13,500 businesses registered here. That's over 600 to each of Bermuda's 21 square miles. I know this is one of the top ten most densely spaces on earth but even so this is a little high, but it can been explained by all those sneaky international firms domiciling here on paper to save some tax cents.

Over the past year I've been here, the Government has been busily signed Tax Information Exchange Treaties (TIEAs) with various countries around the world. Which seem to be "I'll scratch your back, if you scratch mine" agreements to share secrets. Bermuda now has 21 signed after the U.S. Government set a minimum requirement for offshore jurisdictions in order to stay friends. Apparently this means we're doing quite well on the grand scheme of things compared to uber secretive tax havens such as Delaware, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

This has not however stopped some companies getting scared off Bermuda's shores. Over the last year some big names like Accenture, Tyco and Flagstone Re, Willis have left. 

Whatever happens though, as my Mummy and Daddy always said "honesty is the best policy"... so that must be right.