Royalty in the News

Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein gave a speech Thursday, promising his tiny Swiss Alps principality would obey international standards on cross-border tax cooperation in an effort to shed its label as a “tax haven” where foreigners can safely hide their money.

Liechtenstein is one of three European nations vowing to follow tax rules. The other two are Andorra and Belgium.

“The Liechtenstein government accepts the OECD standards on transparency and information exchange in tax matters and supports the international measures against non-compliance with tax laws,” the principality said.

“We are aware of our responsibility as part of a globally integrated economic area,” said Liechtenstein’s Prime Minister Otmar Hasler, who leaves office later this month.

The announcement came a year after a major tax evasion scandal in Germany uncovered allegedly undeclared accounts held by German taxpayers and other foreigners under the cloak of Liechtenstein’s secretive banking sector.

LGT bank, which is controlled by the royal family, claimed that German tax inspectors were working from a list with the names of 1,400 of its clients — 600 of them German — that had been stolen in 2002.

One European country not ceasing to be a “tax haven” is Monaco. The tiny principality on the French Riviera has been accused by the financial watchdogs of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development as a “non-cooperative tax haven.”

Monaco on Thursday declined to comment.

“The Monegasque government is not making any comment on this question,” said a source close to the government.