May 2014
BERMUDA
SUPREME COURT
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (TAX INFORMATION EXCHANGE AGREEMENTS) ACT, 2005 (THE “ACT”) – PRODUCTION ORDERS – FAILURE TO SPECIFY HOW INFORMATION IS TO BE PROVIDED – REQUESTS THAT DO NOT CONFORM WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE RELEVANT TAX INFORMATION EXCHANGE AGREEMENT (“TIEA”)
Certain amendments to the Act came into force in December 2013 which required the Minister of Finance to make applications for information or document production to the Court. A successful application results in a production order. The party served with the Order may apply to the Court to set it aside or vary it. In this case the Defendants sought to do just that.
The production order in question sought information on various matters such as the Defendants’ activities, the means used to carry them out and the date and means of acquisition of licenses, patents and intangible assets.