At 12:22 PM 1/10/01 -0500, you wrote:

NY Times has a story today about the offshores being pressured
by the big nations to curtail tax evasion and avoidance. The islands
first resisted assaults on their sovereignty, but have agreed to
do a study of the issue.

1 ) Tax Havens, Wealthy Nations Face Off
By REUTERS
BRIDGETOWN, (Reuters) - The leader of Barbados, spearheading small nations´ fight against demands from developed countries to reform their offshore financial centers to thwart international tax evasion, proposed on Tuesday setting up a new working group to give all parties a voice in the contentious issue.
Date: January 09, 2001

2 ) Parties Agree in Tax Haven Debate
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. MICHAEL, Barbados (AP) -- Leaders of a meeting between wealthy countries seeking to halt tax evasion and small countries with lucrative offshore banking industries said Tuesday that they had made headway toward resol ving their differences.
Date: January 10, 2001
Source: AP | Section: World

3 ) Nations Agree to Task Force on ´Tax Havens´
By REUTERS
Representatives of wealthy nations and of Caribbean and other small nations branded as "tax havens" agreed on Tuesday to set up a task force to devise ways to reform offshore financial centers used by criminals and tax dodgers.
Date: January 10, 2001
Source: The New York Times | Section: World

steve