To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department takes to ensure that investments abroad through (a) CDC Group and (b) other bodies do not engage with offshore tax regimes that are designated as harmful by the EU Code of Conduct. (240328)

The Department for International Development (DFID) has set an Investment Policy for CDC—recently renewed in November 2008—which dictates where and in what the company may invest. In accordance with advice from Her Majesty's Treasury, the policy requires that, when CDC invests in intermediary companies for fiscal, regulatory or other reasons, it should seek to avoid those jurisdictions listed as unco-operative tax havens by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development or tax regimes listed as harmful under the European Union Code of Conduct for Business Taxation.

DFID does not make investments abroad through any other bodies.