Put Delaware, Wyoming, Nevada on G20 tax haven list: Luxembourg PM

(BRUSSELS) - The tax-friendly US states of Delaware, Nevada and Wyoming should figure on an international blacklist of offshore tax havens, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday.

Along with Belgium and Austria, Luxembourg recently came under pressure from its EU partners to ease its banking secrecy rules to avoid being put on a blacklist of tax havens being drawn up for a Group of 20 summit in London on Thursday.

"I would like all the bold (leaders) in Europe who insisted that those three EU countries that practice banking secrecy drop it show the same courage towards the United States," Juncker said.

"The G20 has no credibility as an undertaking if Delaware, Wyoming or Nevada or far-flung islands from the United States are not on the blacklist," he told lawmakers at the European Parliament in Brussels.

"If there must be a blacklist then, America should have its place on it."

The three US states are popular locations for incorporating businesses in large part because of the tax advantages of doing so while the US Virgin Islands are also known for their tax benefits.

"I don't hear any other prime minister than myself ... raising this problem. Why doesn't (British Prime Minister) Brown say to (US President Barack) Obama to put an end to the tax havens on American territory.

"By April 3, we'll know whether it has all been to impress the public or if it's been to find a real solution for a problem that exists, including in the United States."

Luxembourg, Belgium and Austria recently agreed to relax their bank secrecy rules and exchange tax information with other countries under certain conditions, but only after putting up a fight.

Tiny Luxembourg has over the years become a major European financial hub thanks in large part to its bank secrecy rules and low taxes.