Finance Minister Eugene Cox has taken Bermuda's case on to international airwaves with an interview to run Tuesday on CNBC's "Business Center" programme.

Bermuda has increasingly been the focus of the media spotlight in recent weeks over the number of companies - particularly multinational corporations such as Tyco and Stanley Works - that have incorporated here to reduce their tax burden. Following damning news reports from the Wall Street Journal and a report on Friday in Bloomberg News that the US Treasury department is investigating firms locating to the Island, Mr. Cox gave the CNBC interview.

Mr. Cox said yesterday: "The issue of tax avoidance is clearly a matter for the US authorities.

"The companies that incorporate in Bermuda have not broken any Bermuda laws or any US laws so far as we know. If there are aspects of US law that enable those companies to locate elsewhere for competitive reasons, that is an issue that is in the hands of the United States Government."

Mr. Cox also said that it was important to correctly gauge the scale of the perceived problem as, in his understanding, the issue for multinational US corporations revolved around their foreign source income, not total income.

"As I understand it, for US multinational companies, their US source income is subject to full US taxation," he said.

Mr. Cox continued: "Bermuda's taxation system is consumption-based, it has been in existence for more than 100 years and, therefore it pre-dates international business as we know it today.

"Our system of taxation was designed to serve our own unique circumstances in Bermuda. It was not designed, and has not been adjusted to attract mobile capital or to siphon off tax dollars from other jurisdictions."

The Finance Minister also pointed out that Bermuda has a long-standing tax treaty with the United States.

In cases where there is a clear breach of US tax law by an American citizen or a US-based company associated with Bermuda the United States has relied on and continues to rely on the tax treaty for assistance from Bermuda authorities.

Mr. Cox concluded: "The `Bermuda brand' means high quality in international business.

"I think for this reason that we will continue to attract high quality companies who wish to be associated with that `brand'. These companies conduct lawful and legitimate business in Bermuda and that is good for Bermuda and good for the global economy."

Bermuda International Business Association president Jeff Conyers said he had seen recent news reports and shared the concern of the Minister, but added: "Until there is something concrete (action taken by the US Government) it is difficult to make comment."