The Manx government is welcoming a review into the regulation of the Crown Dependencies, announced by United Kingdom chancellor Alistair Darling.

In a suprise comment before his pre-budget report yesterday, Mr Darling criticised the Isle of Man and other offshore centres, for allowing people to invest there and avoid tax in the UK.

He said the review would look into transparency and regulation issues and a report would be ready by next spring.

Chief Minister Tony Brown says he welcomes the opportunity to prove to the UK that the Isle of Man is a well-regulated financal centre.

Treasury Minister Allan Bell questions the motive behind the review, but says it will prove the Island has nothing to hide.

He told Manx Radio:

"This is really the culimination of a strategy devised by the UK government to raise the profile of the Isle of Man, and deflect criticism for its own mishandling of the Kaupthing affair.

"Nevertheless, we are where we are (and) we have been through this process before.

"We have had a number of investigations in the past and have come out with a clean bill of health.

"We are very confident now that this inquiry will take place and I hope this time, if it's properly objective, they will recognise once and for all that the Isle of Man's standard of regulation matches their own and international standards too."