Author: Niu Ltd

Frequent travellers to the UK from 15 new countries are eligible to apply for membership of the service, which brings the potential for improved trade and tourism links.

The new countries to be covered by the service are Andorra, Bahamas, Botswana, Holy See (Vatican City), Macao, Maldives, Monaco, Namibia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Tonga and Trinidad & Tobago.

They join countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan who are already benefiting from the service.

Last month, the service – which had previously only been open to adults – was also expanded to the 0 to 17 year old dependants of members, which enables families to access the benefits of the service in order to travel more easily together.

Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said:

Registered Traveller is one of the many ways in which the government is making it easier for businesses across the world to do business with the UK.

With over 81,000 members signed up to the service already, I look forward to watching the service grow in the future.

Registered Traveller allows approved members, who have undergone advanced security checks, faster entry at the UK border through access to the ePassport gates (if they hold an ePassport) or the UK/EU passport lane.

To be eligible to apply, passengers must hold an eligible passport and have a visa or have visited the UK at least 4 times in the past 2 years.

 

Source: gov.uk

Global regulatory and financial crime, risk and compliance firm, Exiger has today announced a partnership with professional services firm KPMG LLP in the UK to help enrich and streamline compliance solutions for its global corporate and financial institution clients. 

KPMG will enhance Exiger’s artificial intelligence technology by embedding a branded, custom version of the DDIQ platform into its systems to help financial institutions and corporations to harness the power of machine-learning and natural language processing to accelerate and enhance critical Know Your Customer (KYC), due diligence and reputational risk management processes.

Commenting on the partnership, KPMG Global Forensic Leader, David Hicks, said: “The belief that AI is a revolutionary and valuable advancement for our clients is now engrained in KPMG’s DNA and permeates all our business processes. However, there are very few technology solutions that fulfill the promise of AI. DDIQ, and the shift it represents to the way we think about compliance diligence, research and risk analysis, is an example of how technology can transform routine and difficult tasks with exceptional cost savings.”

KPMG will be the only Big Four firm with access to the technology and will be a key collaborator with Exiger to continually enhance the DDIQ to benefit the market.

“Exiger’s and KPMG’s clients are increasingly under pressure to satisfy shareholder demands to meet financial objectives amidst the weight of growing regulatory pressure in today’s market. The stakes have never been higher. Meanwhile, there are very few solutions and providers that can truly manage these demands,” said Michael Beber, Exiger President and CEO.

“We created DDIQ and 3PM with one goal in mind – to play a pivotal role in moving the market to a sustainable compliance environment. We are excited to partner with a fellow leader and innovator in our space to move toward that objective.”

The multi-year partnership will enhance KPMG’s offerings across financial crime, KYC, Anti-Bribery & Corruption (“ABC”), and reputational risk management.

Nigel Layton, KPMG Partner in Forensic, Risk Consulting Practice, said: “The traditional way of doing things, with teams executing web research, diligence, and other routinized compliance tasks is no longer the most effective way of working. We have always been at the cutting-edge of combining innovative service delivery with technology. The decision to introduce a custom version of DDIQ, the leading AI-based, compliance product into KPMG continues that tradition and offers greater benefit to our global clients.”

KPMG will use DDIQ tools for transaction alert clearing, and corporate intelligence and as part of the anti-money laundering checks that it does with clients as part the firm’s client acceptance and continuance process. Insight 3PM, Exiger’s third party risk management platform will become a critical component of the firm’s, and its clients’, third party and ABC risk management process.

KPMG’s adoption and integration of Exiger’s solutions, demonstrates the power of Exiger’s technology to transform governance, risk and compliance management for financial institutions and corporations.

Brandon Daniels, President of ExigerTech, said: “Partnering with KPMG, as an evangelist and collaborator in the growth of DDIQ and 3PM, ensures that this technology will be the standard for KYC diligence, corporate intelligence, and third party management in the areas of financial crime compliance and anti-bribery and corruption. The partnership marks a significant moment for Exiger, KPMG and the entire compliance market.”

 

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About Exiger
Exiger is a global regulatory and financial crime, risk and compliance company. Exiger arms financial institutions, multinational corporations and governmental agencies with the practical advice and technology solutions they need to prevent compliance breaches, respond to risk, remediate major issues and monitor ongoing business activities. Exiger works with clients worldwide to assist them in effectively managing their critical challenges while developing and implementing the policies, procedures and programs needed to create a sustainable compliance environment. A global authority on regulatory compliance, the company also oversees some of the world’s most complex court-appointed and voluntary monitorships in the private and public sectors, including the monitorship of HSBC. Exiger has four principal business units being: Exiger Advisory; Exiger Diligence; Exiger Government Services; and Exiger Tech, including AI-based automated due diligence solutions DDIQ and Insight 3PM. Exiger operates through offices in New York City, Silver Spring (DC Metro), Miami, Toronto, Vancouver, London, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

 

About KPMG
KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 22 offices across the UK with approximately 13,500 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a revenue of £2.07 billion in the year ended 30 September 2016. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. It operates in 152 countries and has 189,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

 

Source: exiger.com

The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu will accept payments in Bitcoin for its $200,000 citizenship program,becoming the first country to accept the cryptocurrency in return for citizen status.

Bitcoin is trading at $4,581 at current market rates, meaning Vanuatu’s citizenship by investment program would cost around 43.64 bitcoin.

Vanuatu is a member of the Commonwealth and citizenship provides visa-free travel to 113 countries including the UK, Russia and European Union states.

Vanuatu also advertises its low taxes for citizenship buyers, offering a second passport in a country that levies no capital gains or income taxes. Potential citizens don’t need to live in Vanuatu, or even visit the country once.

James Harris, managing director of the Vanuatu Information Centre Network said: “There remains some suspicion surrounding the use of crypto-currency in financial transactions, and some fears that it can be related to undesirable activities.

 

Source: businessinsider.com

From today (5 October), frequent travellers to the UK from 15 new countries are eligible to apply for membership of the service, which brings the potential for improved trade and tourism links.

The new countries to be covered by the service are Andorra, Bahamas, Botswana, Holy See (Vatican City), Macao, Maldives, Monaco, Namibia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Tonga and Trinidad & Tobago.

They join countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan who are already benefiting from the service.

Last month, the service – which had previously only been open to adults – was also expanded to the 0 to 17 year old dependants of members, which enables families to access the benefits of the service in order to travel more easily together.

Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said:

Registered Traveller is one of the many ways in which the government is making it easier for businesses across the world to do business with the UK.

With over 81,000 members signed up to the service already, I look forward to watching the service grow in the future.

Registered Traveller allows approved members, who have undergone advanced security checks, faster entry at the UK border through access to the ePassport gates (if they hold an ePassport) or the UK/EU passport lane.

To be eligible to apply, passengers must hold an eligible passport and have a visa or have visited the UK at least four times in the past two years.

 

Source: gov.uk

Exiger, the global regulatory, financial crime, risk, and compliance company, has named Thomas Anthony the Deputy Head of its Immigration, Citizenship & Visa (ICV) due diligence practice and Director, Financial Crime Compliance, for the Caribbean Region.

Mr. Anthony joins Exiger from the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) of Antigua & Barbuda, where he was Deputy Chief Executive Officer. In that role, Mr. Anthony managed the daily operations of the CIU, helping to transform it into one of the largest, most efficient, and fastest growing programs in the world. Before this, Mr. Anthony spent more than 26 years in the banking sector – in both commercial and investment banking – in Antigua, St. Lucia, and Miami.

“Thomas’s expertise in banking, combined with his deep local knowledge, makes him uniquely qualified to advise the CIUs and the regional banks on how to most effectively address one of the most important issues facing the industry today: the pressure placed on global banks to comply with stringent AML regulations, causing them to ‘de-risk’ smaller, regional correspondent banking relationships,” said Michael Beber, Exiger’s President and CEO. “We are thrilled to welcome Thomas to Exiger, where he will work with both our due diligence and banking experts to assist in evolving standards in the industry and ensure the sustainability of citizenship by investment programs throughout the region.”

Exiger’s ICV Due Diligence Practice is a global leader in work related to citizenship by investment programs. The business is part of Exiger Diligence, which provides global public records research and investigative due diligence to global financial institutions, multinational corporations, and governmental agencies.

“Thomas has been, and will continue to be, a trusted advisor in the Caribbean region,” said Kim Marsh, Exiger Diligence’s Vice Chairman and Global Head of the ICV Practice. “His combination of extensive first-hand experience with citizenship by investment programs and deep knowledge of the banking sector will make him a tremendous asset to Exiger’s ICV practice, the Caribbean banks, and CIUs.”

“Exiger is the gold standard for due diligence and compliance,” said Mr. Anthony.  “Exiger’s industry-leading, technology-based, due diligence tools including DDIQ and Insight 3PM, will enable clients to conduct effective pre-screening, continuous monitoring and automated lookbacks. This will greatly enhance the quality, efficiency, and security of the CIUs’ due diligence process. I look forward to working with the entire Exiger team to provide enhanced services, advice, and support to the banks and CIUs operating across the Caribbean region.”

Mr. Anthony holds a degree in banking and finance from City Banking College and a degree in business administration and management from West London College.

 

Source: exiger.com

The political leader of the Grenada Progressive Movement says St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris lacks foresight in his decision to reduce the cost of his country’s citizenship by investment (CBI) programme by 50 percent in an effort to raise funds for his country after the passing of Hurricane Maria.

“We are all saddened by the devastation but this sends a shocking and terrible message to the international community and indeed to the rest of the Caribbean,” said Forrester in a commentary on Caribbean News Now.

“The St Kitts and Nevis prime minister needs to understand that this is a time for the region to come together as brothers and sisters to seriously look at the many challenges facing our region and to develop medium and long term strategies to be more self-sufficient and independent. His decision speaks to a problem of serious systemic deficiency, which correlates to equal systemic social problems that are now affecting our region,” wrote Forrester.

He noted that only a few months ago the islands in the OECS agreed to a protocol of jointly strengthening the region’s CBI programmes by sharing information on applicants who are refused so that they don’t hop to another island as a new applicant.

“This strategy is good and speaks to the seriousness of ‘due diligence[‘ and therefore any member who is that desperate may have the tendency to bend the rules and compromise the integrity of the entire Caribbean CBI programme,” said Forrester.

“This is why we need strong leadership in the region and strong institutions to help build capacity and integrity in the Caribbean,” Forrester, who also mentioned other regional issues in his commentary headlined: “CBI issues in St. Kitts and political malady”

 

Source: sflcn.com

In keeping with the stability and resilience for which the citizenship by investment (CBI) programme and the island of Dominica is known, the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) is back in full operation, following the direct hit by Hurricane Maria last week.

Owing to the rigorous processes that have been established over years of refinement, the Unit has had minimal disturbance to the processing of applications, and continues to provide the product that has been widely acclaimed as the world’s best citizenship by investment programme.

Infrastructural damage to the department’s building is minimal, and all lines of communications have been restored, including emails and phone lines.

Prime minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, applauded the Unit for its proactive response: “We’re getting on the with the job. My team is amazing. They may have lost their homes, but they have not lost their will to work. We will continue to provide a programme of exceptional service and quality, and as far as we’re concerned its business as usual.”

The CIU, which is responsible for the processing of all citizenship applications and due diligence procedures, continues to enhance their processes with a recently launched online submission portal.

 

Source: caribbeannewsnow.com

The Russian government is offering simplified Russian citizenship in exchange for a $10-million investment in the Far East.

Moscow has been seeking to boost the social and economic development of the Far East, including through a 2015 law establishing a broad set of incentives for companies operating there.

During his visit to Vladivostok this month, President Vladimir Putin ordered ministers to attract investment to the region.

The latest draft law from the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East strikes down residence and language requirements, as well as the need for aspiring Russians to renounce their current citizenship, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday.

Candidates are allowed to pick any Far East investment scheme as long as they complete it within two years of applying for citizenship. After being granted Russian citizenship, the investor is required to retain ownership of his or her asset for at least three years.

 

Source: themoscowtimes.com

Lightstone Solutions, LLC (www.LightstoneSolutions.com) announced today that it has established an EB-5 Investigative Due Diligence Unit focused on providing Due Diligence Services to international investors seeking to invest in businesses in the U.S. pursuant to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program.

 

What is the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program?

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program provides a means for eligible Immigrant Investors to become permanent resident “green card” holders by investing at least $1M ($500K under certain circumstances) to finance a business in the U.S. that will employ at least 10 American workers.

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program was created by Congress in 1990 in order to “stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors,” according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The future of the EB-5 investment program has faced uncertainty due to issues that range from security concerns about vetting of the EB-5 investors to fraud committed against investors by unscrupulous promoters. President Trump’s recent budget deal with Congress includes extension of EB-5 through 12/8/17. The Administration has signaled that it will likely seek continuation of the program with Congressional reform.

 

Preventing EB-5 Investment Fraud

“In recent years the SEC has successfully brought enforcement actions against in excess of $1 Billion in EB-5 projects, a majority of them against unscrupulous individuals or companies that misuse investors’ funds,” said William S. Papazian, CEO. “With the recent extension of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program and an industry expectation of more permanent EB-5 legislative reform, we have observed a strong – almost frenzied – push by some to recruit investors. Despite the legitimacy of many of these projects, this potentially opens the door to more unscrupulous promoters taking advantage of this situation,” added Mr. Papazian.

“Many investors come from China, South Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Hong Kong,” said Mr. Papazian. “The EB-5 Investigative Due Diligence Unit provides a means by which foreign investors can gauge the legitimacy of the individuals and companies they are considering investing in by delving into the  backgrounds of the promoters and their projects in many areas including regulatory issues, criminal and civil histories, complaints and reputation. All too often investments are being made on blind faith of legitimacy. We don’t evaluate investment merits – we evaluate the merits of the people being invested with,” added Mr. Papazian.

 

 

Source: markets.businessinsider.com

At the sixth meeting of the Citizenship by Investment Programmes Association (CIPA) Sept. 1, the association elected Les Khan as its incoming chair for the forthcoming year.

Khan is the CEO of the Citizenship by Investment Unit in St Kitts and Nevis and has been in post for just more than a year. He is a member of the Project Management Institute and is a certified project management professional (PMP).  In addition to being a member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, his more than 20-year career has taken him to the United States, Canada, India, Australia and the Far East with global brands such as HSBC, JP Morgan, National Australia Bank, Bank of America and the global risk management group of IPSA.

The association was established to drive up and maintain standards within the industry and to establish a stronger regulatory framework with the hopes of becoming more effective and competitive on the global market. It comprises five founding member countries: St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, Grenada, St. Lucia and Dominica.

In his role as new chairman, Khan talked about the importance of training in developing best practices across the region. It is envisaged that at every session it will devote half a day to training on a topic of the moment.

“My career has been devoted to maintaining standards in the financial sector on a global basis,” Khan said. “This post will be an exciting opportunity to put the Citizenship by Investment Programmes of St Kitts and Nevis and fellow Caribbean countries on the map for being well managed, for undertaking high standards of due diligence and for delivering credible programmes of integrity. I am looking forward to doing more over the coming year.”

 

Source: thestkittsnevisobserver.com