UAE dismisses inclusion in EU's tax havens blacklist

DUBAI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Thursday that it was "surprised and disappointed" to be included by the European Union (EU) in its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

"The UAE is fully committed to maintaining the highest international standard of financial supervision and tax regulation, and will continue to work with our international partners to deliver it," said Younis Haji Al-Khouri, UAE's undersecretary of the Finance Ministry.

"The UAE has worked to meet the EU's requirements in terms of exchanging tax-related information," said the financial official.

He added the UAE was undergoing a reform process expected to finish by October 2018, which would ensure a "swift removal" of the country from EU's tax blacklist.

Khouri further expressed his keenness to "move onto the next phase of cooperation with EU partners on the important issue of tax regulation."

On Wednesday, finance ministers of EU's 28 member states agreed to put 17 countries on its first "tax havens blacklist."

Apart from the UAE, Bahrain, Mongolia, South Korea and Tunisia are also included.

Meanwhile, EU also issued a "watch list" for tax evasion consisting of 47 other nations. Enditem