The Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet Office announced today that the Government of Bermuda has written to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to request that the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters (Convention) include Bermuda.A Government spokesman said the request has been made to include Bermuda “at the earliest possibly moment, following a decision made by Finance Minister The Hon E.T. Richards.”The spokesman went on to explain that for developing countries, the benefit of signing the Multilateral Convention is that it allows them to sign one multilateral agreement and simultaneously create an exchange of information network with Bermuda, and many jurisdictions, rather than negotiating many individual tax agreements on a bilateral basis.It stated that currently there are 56 jurisdictions that are signatories to the Convention.Finance Minister Richards said: “We are delighted to have become signatories to the Multilateral Convention which will further establish our leadership as a best practice environment for financial transparency and efficiency”.