As the Isle of Man remains in the political spotlight, following talk of action by Barack Obama against tax havens, the Treasury Minister says engagement with the wider political community is the way forward.

The G20 summit in Washington at the weekend was dedicated to the global financial and economic crisis, and the pressure on small jurisdictions is expected to increase.

Allan Bell (pictured) says the Island shouldn’t be linked to financial centres which aren’t transparent and cooperative.

He told Manx Radio:

"We have a job to do in the time ahead because I'm certainly expecting some quite early steps by the United States Government to up the pressure on small jurisdictions to comply with what the international community is looking for.

"The difficulty we have at the moment, and the great danger for the Isle of Man, is that in this present economic turmoil larger countries do look for scapegoats.

"The small off-shore and internationalm business centres such as the Isle of Man are vulnerable to attack, regardless of the uneducated comments which are made.

"We are in the firing line and will remain so for quite some time to come."