British Virgin Islands slam company leaks as 'illicit'
Government of British Virgin Territories calls journalists' investigation 'illicit' as European countries adopt action plan against tax evasion
Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande and the European Commission have announced tougher measures against tax evasion.
"The BVI authorities are actively investigating how this private information has been illicitly obtained and used to attack the BVI financial services industry, which operates compliantly within international guidelines and the law," BVI Premier and Finance Minister Orlando Smith said in a statement e-mailed to the South China Morning Post.
The BVI authorities are actively investigating how this private information has been illicitly obtained
In one of the biggest information leaks in history, more than two million documents naming many individuals and detailing their financial dealings through offshore accounts were made available to the US-based ICIJ.
The group has been making public bits of the information it has obtained, which has sparked worldwide reaction from governments and politicians.
Smith said the leak was an isolated incident. "There is no indication of contagion or that the breach was systemic. Also, no breach of BVI official databases has occurred," he said.
On Tuesday, the European Commission announced an action plan to combat tax fraud and evasion. Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain agreed to co-operate on a pilot information exchange system to catch tax dodgers. Hollande has called for the eradication of tax havens and ordered French banks to declare all their subsidiaries, the BBC reported. He said his government would set up a central agency to fight fraud and corruption.