What is the Isle of Man? According to Alistair Darling, the UK finance minister, it is “a tax haven sitting in the Irish Sea”. Tony Brown, the island’s chief minister, says he got only his geography right. “We are not a tax haven [unless] the definition of tax haven is so broad it could cover everyone, even the UK. We are recognised as a well-regulated and co-operative jurisdiction,” he says.
Mr Darling’s statement to a parliamentary committee hearing this month showed just how much work the island has to do to burnish its reputation – and how strained ties have become with its big neighbour after the collapse of Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, the Icelandic bank. While the UK is representing the island in talks with Iceland, it is also holding on to £550m ($857m) of the £850m deposits of the Isle of Man branch, which were clawed back from Reykjavik just before the UK arm was liquidated, triggering similar action from Douglas.
