The group of experts tasked with assessing threats to Bermuda’s financial stability has urged the Government to ramp up its engagements with international authorities on tax-related matters.The Financial Policy Council, which met this month, also discussed challenges surrounding immigration reform and tax reform, as well as the efforts to grow the fintech industry.A statement released by the Department of Communications said council members had “discussed developments related to the European Union’s Code of Conduct (Business Taxation) Working Group under the noncooperative jurisdictions initiative and the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting work, in particular in relation to the growing digitalisation of the economy”. It added: “As has been the case in previous FPC meetings, members supported the decision of the Bermuda Government to actively engage with EU and OECD officials in order to advance the island’s position with respect to these initiatives. “Members acknowledged the growing complexities of tax-related international developments and urged the Government to double its efforts towards working together with relevant authorities involved in shaping these agendas.”The role of the FPC is to assess possible threats to Bermuda’s financial stability, and to identify policies and actions to mitigate or eliminate such threats and to advise the Government on the development of a financial stability framework. The FPC chairman is Curtis Dickinson, the finance minister, while Sir Andrew Large is the deputy chairman. Other members are Jeremy Cox, executive chairman of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, insurance industry veteran Michael Butt, Dame Amelia Fawcett, Gil Tucker and DeLisle Worrell. Economic, demographic and financial challenges facing Bermuda were discussed at the December 5 meeting, hosted by the BMA.The members of Bermuda’s Fiscal Responsibility Panel took part in this section of the meeting. The FPC members took note of the Government’s efforts to mitigate the risks facing Bermuda and the progress being made on several fronts. The statement added: “There remained a number of challenges that would need to be addressed coherently in order for Bermuda to continue making progress in reducing the level of external government debt and establish the conditions for renewed and sustainable economic growth, including immigration reform and tax reform.”Fintech developments in Bermuda and internationally, in particular stablecoins, were also discussed. FPC members examined risks and opportunities emerging from both digital currencies and fintech more generally — and how these relate to Bermuda’s efforts to attract financial service providers business to the island. The discussion focused on the reliance on an effective supervisory framework within which all aspects of the fintech sector will develop and other risk mitigation measures that might be taken to ensure that Bermuda’s reputation as a world-class international financial centre is robustly protected.Other topics discussed included: • The development of a recovery and resolution framework for Bermuda banks• The cyber-resilience of the financial sector and the growing market of cyber-risk insurance underwritingThe FPC is scheduled to meet again in April 2020.