Bahrain Mirror: The European Union ministers moved on Tuesday (March 13, 2018) Bahrain, the Marshall Islands and Saint Lucia from the blacklist of tax havens and added Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Saint Kitts and Nevis to the list.

European Union finance ministers agreed new measures on Tuesday to force accountants and banks to report aggressive tax schemes that help companies shift profits to low-tax countries, Reuters reported.

Under the rules, proposed by the European Commission in June, accountants, banks and lawyers would be required to inform authorities about "potentially aggressive tax planning arrangements" set up for their clients.

Cross-border tax arrangements set up with jurisdictions that have a zero or "almost zero" corporate rate must be reported, despite initial opposition from some governments.

Bahrain is among the countries that don't impose income tax on companies.

Ministers moved Bahrain, the Marshall Islands and Saint Lucia from the black to the grey list, after they committed to change their tax practices.

The blacklist includes now 9 countries, the 3 Caribbean island, American Samoa, Guam, Namibia, Palau, Samoa, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The countries on the blacklist face restrictions on EU funding. However, member states don't agree on the need to impose more restrictions to encourage the countries achieve reform.

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