Joint Ministerial Council/European Commission and European Union Meetings

The Minister, accompanied by a Ministry of Finance official, attended a number of meetings with UK based leaders, Government and industry stakeholders, and with top officials within the European Commission and Council of the European Union in Brussels. The Minister accompanied the Premier at the JMC's session on "Economic Resilience", which focused on building economic resilience in the Territories post Covid-19. The session was chaired by the UK Minister for Overseas Territories, Amanda Milling, MP, and it was agreed that as a result of external impacts such as Covid-19, natural disasters, and climate change, territories were gravely affected by the rising fiscal and economic challenges. The UK agreed to work alongside Territory Governments to explore opportunities for infrastruture development, sound public financial management, and effective fiscal planning, particularly supporting the diversification of economies through building resilience and investment. The Minister, and his senior technical officer, also met with senior officials from the Bank of England, the Prudential Authority to discuss matters of mutual interest, including financial stability and financial services regulation. Meetings were also held with senior leaders from Lloyds and other industry stakeholders. In Brussels, the Minister met with key officials from the European Commission and the European Council. Discussion focused on various tax related topics, incuding economic substance, country-by-country reporting; OECD/G20 international taxation agreements (Pillar 1 & 11); and the Code of Conduct Group work. The Minister, with the Premier, also attended high level meetings on financial services matters, including those related to insurance/reinsurance; digital assets business sectors, climate risk finance, and anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing. It was stressed that Bermuda would "work to its level best" to maintain exemplary dialogue and cooperation with its EU focused priorities and engagements.