Bermuda-based Covidien has said it will be monitoring the situation following Senator Barack Obama's announcement of his intention to close down tax havens if he is elected to the White House.

Yesterday The Royal Gazette reported that while Sen. Obama did not make direct reference to Bermuda, the Island was on a list of jurisdictions taken from Internal Revenue Service court filings identified as "probable locations for US tax evasion" under the "Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act" introduced by Sen. Obama, Democratic Sen. Carl Levin and Republican Sen. Norman Coleman last year.

In the report, Premier Ewart Brown said Sen. Obama seems to be closing in on the "Tycos of the world" and not the Island's reinsurance industry.

A spokesman for Covidien, which was formed as a result of a three-way split of Tyco International in June 2007, said : "The US Congress has been debating various pieces of legislation relating to companies based in Bermuda. We are of course interested in what the candidates are saying and will be monitoring going forward."