Bermuda will still escape a controversial European Union law which requires banks to provide tax details on the savings of any person living within the EU.

For an unknown reason, Bermuda was the only British Dependent Territory not included in the list of EU countries and their Dependent Territories when it was published in June last year.

The aim of the law, known as the European Savings Tax Directive, is to crack down on EU citizens trying to avoid taxes by using so-called ?tax havens? to stash their money.

All other British-controlled territories considered to be ?tax havens? ? including the Cayman Islands ? have now agreed to the EU law, UK Chancellor Gordon Brown will say today, according to a UK Treasury spokesperson

?Bermuda is not one of the countries on the list therefor it is not conditional on Bermuda making the commitment,? said the spokesperson.

But she hinted that Bermuda may be expected at a later date to comply along with other nations. She said: ?However the... committee made it clear that the ultimate objective was an exchange of information on as wide a basis as possible.?

Mr. Brown will be speaking at the a meeting of Finance Ministers at the European Commission, the EU?s executive arm, scheduled for later today.

The EU is pushing to complete withholding-tax agreements by June 30 with offshore territories and countries including Switzerland.

The accords are a requirement for 12 EU countries to begin reporting foreign savers? interest income to their home tax authorities beginning January 1, under the EU law approved last June.

The move has been hugely controversial in other overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands, where government originally said it would never happen - before doing an about turn and accepting the matter. Critics have now called for the government to step aside and asked for an early general election following the controversy.

What the UK territories? pact does is it removes an obstacle to the tax law taking effect, but talks with Switzerland remain a hurdle, with the Swiss waiting for agreement on other issues such as financial fraud and border controls before signing the tax accord.

EU governments issued a statement last month saying the issues aren?t linked and urged the commission to press the negotiations.

?The contacts are continuing,? commission spokesman Jonathan Todd told reporters in Brussels yesterday.

The commission is also negotiating with independent European countries Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra and San Marino.

Mr. Brown will tell a meeting of EU finance minister in Brussels that the vote means the Caymans has joined other UK territories including Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man in accepting the EU law, according to the UK Treasury spokesperson in London.

As a British Overseas Territory, the Cayman Islands, like Bermuda, elects an administration to run its internal affairs. The UK retains responsibility for external issues, including EU relations.

Until last month, the Cayman government had said complying with the EU rule would jeopardise a banking industry that holds $800 billion in deposits from US companies.

But it came under pressure from the UK, and the Cayman legislature voted in February to drop that opposition. The three Cayman Islands have a population of 42,000 and an area of 260 square miles. More than 45,000 companies including 600 banks are registered in the capital, George Town.

The tax law also requires the Netherlands to secure co-operation of its territories in the Caribbean, including Aruba and Netherlands Antilles.