Agreement Norway - Anguilla

The Government of the Kingdom of Norway and the Government of  Anguilla, desiring to conclude an Agreement concerning information  on tax matters, have agreed as follows:

Article 1

Object and scope of the agreement

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties  shall provide assistance through exchange of information that is  foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the  domestic laws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxes covered  by this Agreement. Such information shall include information that is  foreseeably relevant to the determination, assessment and collection  of such taxes, the recovery and enforcement of tax claims, or the  investigation or prosecution of tax matters. Information shall be  exchanged in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and  shall be treated as confidential in the manner provided in Article  8.

2. The rights and safeguards secured to persons by the laws  or administrative practice of the requested Party remain applicable  to the extent that they do not unduly prevent or delay effective  exchange of information.

Article 2

Jurisdiction

A Requested Party is not obligated to provide information which  is neither held by its authorities nor in the possession or control  of persons who are ­within its territorial jurisdiction.

Article 3

Taxes covered

1. The taxes which are the subject of this  Agreement are taxes of every kind and description imposed in the  Contracting Parties.

2. This Agreement shall also apply to any identical or any  substantially similar taxes imposed after the date of signature  of the Agreement in addition to or in place of the existing taxes.  The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall notify  each other of any substantial changes to the taxation and related  information gathering measures covered by the Agreement.

Article 4

Definitions

1. For the purposes of this Agreement,  unless otherwise defined:

   1. the term «Contracting Party» means  Norway or Anguilla as the context requires;

   2. the term Anguilla means the territory of Anguilla;

   3. the term «Norway» means the Kingdom of Norway,  and includes the land territory and internal waters, the territorial  sea and the area beyond the territorial sea where the Kingdom of  Norway, according to Norwegian legislation and in accordance with international  law, may exercise her rights with respect to the seabed and subsoil  and their natural resources; the term does not comprise Svalbard,  Jan Mayen and the Norwegian dependencies («biland»);

   4. the term «competent authority» means:

      1. in Anguilla, the Permanent Secretary  of the Ministry of Finance or a person or authority designated by  him in writing;

      2. in Norway, the Minister of Finance or the Minister’s  authorised representative;

   5. the term «person» includes an individual,  a company and any other body of persons;

   6. the term «company» means any body corporate  or any entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;

   7. the term «publicly traded company» means any  company whose principal class of shares is listed on a recognised  stock exchange provided its listed shares can be readily purchased  or sold by the public. Shares can be purchased or sold «by  the public» if the purchase or sale of shares is not implicitly  or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;

   8. the term «principal class of shares» means the  class or classes of shares representing a majority of the voting  power and value of the company;

   9. the term «recognised stock exchange» means  any stock exchange agreed upon by the competent authorities of the  Contracting Parties;

   10. the term «collective investment fund or scheme» means  any pooled investment vehicle, irrespective of legal form. The term «public  collective investment fund or scheme» means any collective  investment fund or scheme provided the units, shares or other interests  in the fund or scheme can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed  by the public. Units, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme  can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed «by the public» if the  purchase, sale or redemption is not implicitly or explicitly restricted  to a limited group of investors;

   11. the term «tax» means any tax to which  the Agreement applies;

   12. the term «applicant Party» means the Contracting  Party requesting information;

   13. the term «requested Party» means the Contracting  Party requested to provide information;

   14. the term «information gathering measures» means  laws and administrative or judicial procedures that enable a Contracting  Party to obtain and provide the requested information;

   15. the term «information» means any fact,  statement or record in any form whatever;

   16. the term «criminal tax matters» means  tax matters involving intentional conduct which is liable to prosecution  under the criminal laws of the applicant party;

   17. the term «criminal laws» means all criminal laws  designated as such under domestic law irrespective of whether contained  in the tax laws, the criminal code or other statutes.

2. As regards the application of this Agreement at any time  by a Contracting Party, any term not defined therein shall, unless  the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that  time under the law of that Party, any meaning under the applicable  tax laws of that Party prevailing over a meaning given to the term under  other laws of that Party.

Article 5

Exchange of Information Upon Request

1. The competent authority of the requested  Party shall provide upon request information for the purposes referred  to in Article 1. Such information shall be exchanged without regard  to whether the conduct being investigated would constitute a crime  under the laws of the requested Party if such conduct occurred in  the requested Party.

2. If the information in the possession of the competent authority  of the requested Party is not sufficient to enable it to comply  with the request for information, that Party shall use all relevant  information gathering measures to provide the applicant Party with  the information requested, notwithstanding that the requested Party  may not need such information for its own tax purposes.

3. If specifically requested by the competent ­authority  of an applicant Party, the competent authority of the requested  Party shall provide information under this Article, to the extent allowable  under its domestic laws, in the form of depositions of witnesses  and authenticated copies of original records.

4. Each Contracting Party shall ensure that its competent authorities  for the purposes specified in Article 1 of the Agreement, have the ­authority  to obtain and provide upon request:

   1. information held by banks, other financial institutions,  and any person acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity including nominees  and trustees;

   2. information regarding the ownership of companies, partnerships,  trusts, foundations, «Anstalten» and other persons,  including, within the constraints of Article 2, ownership information  on all such persons in an ownership chain and the position in an ownership  chain; in the case of trusts, information on settlors, trustees  and beneficiaries; and in the case of foundations, information on  founders, members of the foundation council and beneficiaries. Further,  this Agreement does not create an obligation on the Contracting  Parties to obtain or provide ownership information with respect  to publicly traded companies or public collective investment funds  or schemes unless such information can be obtained without giving  rise to disproportionate difficulties.

5. The competent authority of the applicant Party shall provide  the following information to the competent authority of the requested  Party when making a request for information under the Agreement  to demonstrate the foreseeable relevance of the information to the  request:

   1. the identity of the person under examination  or investigation;

   2. a statement of the information sought including its nature  and the form in which the applicant Party wishes to receive the  information from the requested Party;

   3. the tax purpose for which the information is sought;

   4. grounds for believing that the information requested is  held in the requested Party or is in the possession or control of  a person within the jurisdiction of the requested Party;

   5. to the extent known, the name and address of any person  believed to be in possession of the requested information;

   6. a statement that the request is in conformity with the law  and administrative practices of the applicant Party, that if the  requested information was within the jurisdiction of the applicant  Party then the competent authority of the applicant Party would  be able to obtain the information under the laws of the applicant  Party or in the normal course of administrative practice and that  it is in conformity with this Agreement;

   7. a statement that the applicant Party has pursued all means  available in its own territory to obtain the information, except  those that would give rise to disproportionate difficulties.

6. The competent authority of the requested Party shall forward  the requested information as promptly as possible to the applicant  Party. To ensure a prompt response, the competent authority of the  requested Party shall:

   1. Confirm receipt of a request in writing  to the competent authority of the applicant Party and shall notify  the competent authority of the applicant Party of deficiencies in the  request, if any, within 60 days of the receipt of the request.

   2. If the competent authority of the requested Party has been  unable to obtain and provide the information within 90 days of receipt  of the request, including if it encounters obstacles in furnishing  the information or it refuses to furnish the information, it shall immediately  inform the applicant Party, explaining the reason for its inability,  the nature of the obstacles or the reasons for its refusal.

Article 6

Tax Examinations Abroad

1. A Contracting Party may allow representatives of  the competent authority of the other Contracting Party to enter  the territory of the first-mentioned Party to interview individuals  and examine records with the written consent of the persons concerned.  The competent authority of the second-mentioned Party shall notify the  competent authority of the first-mentioned Party of the time and  place of the meeting with the individuals concerned.

2. At the request of the competent authority of one Contracting  Party, the competent authority of the other Contracting Party may  allow representatives of the competent authority of the first-mentioned  Party to be present at the appropriate part of a tax examination  in the second-mentioned Party.

3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is acceded to,  the competent authority of the Contracting Party conducting the  examination shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority  of the other Party about the time and place of the examination,  the authority or official designated to carry out the examination and  the procedures and conditions required by the first-mentioned Party  for the conduct of the examination. All decisions with respect to  the conduct of the tax examination shall be made by the Party conducting  the examination.

Article 7

Possibility of Declining a Request

1. The requested Party shall not be required  to obtain or provide information that the applicant Party would  not be able to obtain under its own laws for purposes of the administration  or enforcement of its own tax laws. The competent authority of the  requested Party may decline to assist where the request is not made  in conformity with this Agreement.

2. The provisions of this Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting  Party the obligation to supply information which would disclose  any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret  or trade process. Notwithstanding the foregoing, information of  the type referred to in Article 5, paragraph 4 shall not be treated  as such a secret or trade process merely because it meets the criteria  in that paragraph.

3. The provisions of this Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting  Party the obligation to obtain or provide information, which would reveal  confidential communications between a client and an attorney, solicitor  or other admitted legal representative where such communications  are:

   1. produced for the purposes of seeking  or providing legal advice or

   2. produced for the purposes of use in existing or contemplated  legal proceedings.

4. The requested Party may decline a request for information  if the disclosure of the information would be contrary to public  policy (ordre public).

5. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground  that the tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed.

6. The requested Party may decline a request for information  if the information is requested by the applicant Party to administer  or enforce a provision of the tax law of the applicant Party, or  any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against  a national of the requested Party as compared with a national of the  applicant Party in the same circumstances.

Article 8

Confidentiality

Any information received by a Contracting Party under this Agreement  shall be treated as confidential and may be disclosed only to persons  or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) in the  jurisdiction of the Contracting Party concerned with the assessment  or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of,  or the determination of appeals in relation to, the taxes imposed  by a Contracting Party. Such persons or authorities shall use such  information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in  public court proceedings or in judicial decisions. The information  may not be disclosed to any other person or entity or authority  or any other jurisdiction without the express written consent of  the competent authority of the requested Party.

Article 9

Costs

1. Incidence of ordinary costs incurred  in the course of responding to a request for information will be  borne by the requested Party. Such ordinary costs would normally  cover internal administration costs and any minor external costs.

2. All other costs that are not ordinary costs are considered  extraordinary costs and will be borne by the applicant Party. Extraordinary costs  include, but are not limited to, the following:

   1. reasonable fees charged by third parties  for carrying out research;

   2. reasonable fees charged by third parties for copying documents;

   3. reasonable costs of engaging experts, interpreters, or translators;

   4. reasonable costs of conveying documents to the Requesting  Party;

   5. reasonable litigation costs of the Requested Party in relation  to a specific request for information; and

   6. reasonable costs for obtaining depositions or testimony.

3. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties will  consult each other in any particular case where extraordinary costs  are likely to exceed $US 500 to determine whether the applicant  Party will continue to pursue the request and bear the cost.

Article 10

No Prejudicial or Restrictive Measures

1. So long as this Agreement is in force  and effective, it is the intention of the Contracting Parties not  to apply or introduce prejudicial or restrictive measures based  on harmful tax practices to residents or nationals of either Contracting  Party. However, in the event that a Contracting Party has reason  to believe that the other Contracting Party has introduced such  prejudicial or restrictive measures, both Contracting Parties shall  immediately initiate proceedings to resolve the matter.

2. A prejudicial or restrictive measure based on harmful tax  practices means a measure applied by one Contracting Party to residents  or nationals of the other Contracting Party on the basis that the  other Contracting Party does not engage in effective exchange of  information or because it lacks transparency in the operation of  its laws, regulations or administrative practices, or on the basis  of no or nominal taxes and one of the preceding criteria.

3. Without limiting the generality of the term «prejudicial  or restrictive measure», the term includes the denial of  a deduction, credit or exemption, the imposition of a tax, charge  or levy, or special reporting requirements. Such measures include  any measure which relates, directly or indirectly, to taxation matters. However,  they do not include any generally applicable measure, applied by  either Contracting Party against, amongst others, members of the  OECD generally.

Article 11

Mutual agreement procedure

1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between  the Parties regarding the implementation or interpretation of this  Agreement, the respective competent authorities shall endeavour  to resolve the matter by mutual agreement.

2. In addition to the agreements referred to in paragraph 1,  the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may mutually  agree on the procedures to be used under Articles 5 and 6.

3. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may  communicate with each other directly for purposes of reaching agreement under  this Article.

Article 12

Entry into Force

1. Each of the Parties shall notify the  other in writing of the completion of the procedures required by  its law for the entry into force of this Agreement.

2. The Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day  after the receipt of the later of these notifications and shall  thereupon have effect

   1. for criminal tax matters, on that date;

   2. for all other matters covered in Article 1, for taxable  periods beginning on or after the first day of January of the year  next following the date on which the Agreement enters into force,  or where there is no tax­able period, for all charges to  tax arising on or after that date.

Article 13

Termination

1. This Agreement shall remain in force  until terminated by a Party. Either Party may terminate the Agreement  by giving written notice of termination to the other Party. In such  case, the Agreement shall cease to have effect on the first day  of the month following the end of the period of six months after  the date of receipt of notice of termination by the other Party.

2. In the event of termination, both Parties shall remain bound  by the provisions of Article 8 with respect to any information obtained  under the Agreement.

In witness whereof the undersigned being duly authorised thereto  have signed the Agreement.

Done at Paris this 14th day of December 2009, in duplicate in  the English language.