Category: News

Opinion of the editor:

For the last year and a half, Transparency International (TI) has pressed Portugal’s Ministry of Internal Affairs to share more detailed statistics on the country’s residence by investment program (the ARI, or golden visa) than it currently does. The Ministry has so far dragged its feet, invoking arguments of statistical confidentiality and “internal security secrets”. Now, the Administrative Court of Lisbon has upheld a subpoena filed by TI in April 2018, a ruling that will force the Ministry to publicly disclose an extremely detailed set of statistics.

The Ministry already shares statistics on its golden visa program through the SEF’s monthly releases. These, however, contain only a low-resolution picture of program trends, limited to

• the number of approved applicants and dependents for the top five countries;
• the FDI amounts raised overall by category (real estate or capital transfer);
• the number of visas issued in total and by basis (real estate, capital transfer, or job creation)

IMI has an extensive, longitudinal data-set on the Portuguese program, one we’ve been able to provide only by keeping tabs on, logging, and storing the monthly government releases in our own database; the SEF shares only momentary snapshots of the data and has removed historical data from its website.

TI, meanwhile, has requested a much richer data set. The November 20 ruling – which, according to TI, was only communicated to them last week – obliges the Ministry to provide the following information within 10 days (via TI Portugal):

1. In respect of Investment Residence Permits (ARI):

*a) Total number of visas awarded by geographic distribution of its beneficiaries (Districts + Autonomous Regions)*

b) Total number of visas granted by nationality of beneficiaries;

c) Total number of visas granted by area of activity/investment of the beneficiaries;

*d) Number of investments made not directly by the beneficiaries but by companies controlled by them (in particular as regards real estate investing)*;

e) Number of jobs created by beneficiaries of the programme;

f) Number of applications rejected since the beginning of the programme, broken down by applicants’ country of origin;

*g) Number of visas issued which were subsequently cancelled since the beginning of the programme, broken down by applicants’ country of origin and indicating the reasons for cancellation*;

*h) Number of contacts established with third country authorities to verify data submitted by applicants, broken down by countries contacted*;

i) Annual evolution of data referred to in points (a) to (h);

j) Identification of the companies that created jobs as provided for in paragraph d) of paragraph 1 and paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 3 of the Foreigners Act;

k) Identification of the companies through which the real estate investment was made (sole proprietorship by quotas or joint ownership, pursuant to the provisions of Article 65-A, paragraph 2 of Regulatory Decree No. 9/2018, of September 11).

2. Impact assessments of the programme that have been carried out by or at the request of the Government – or an indication that no impact assessments have been carried out if they do not exist.

3. Regulations indicating what control mechanisms and procedures are in force, namely to establish the origins of the invested capital and to identify the beneficial owners of companies that set up in the country and/or acquire real estate and whose partners benefit from Golden Visas.

The points marked with * correspond to information that the Government has acknowledged does not exist.

Infernal Affairs
The Ministry of Internal Affairs now has its work cut out and will need to devote considerable resources to compiling historical figures.

The editor of IMI has previously argued, in an opinion piece, that out of all the common arguments levied against the investment migration industry, the one that is consistently valid is that which relates to processing unit opacity.

There’s simply no legitimate reason not to be transparent about RCBI program statistics. Opacity invites suspicion. But, as observed with the Malta IIP, even complete and utter program transparency over 70-page statistical reports compiled by an independent regulator does not prevent intransigent detractors (including organizations like TI) from referring to it as “corrupt”, “murky”, and a “security threat”.

“This ruling confirms the elementary right of citizens to question their governments and access information of relevant public interest – a right that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has repeatedly denied to us for almost two years,” said the Vice Chair of Transparency International Portugal, Susana Coroado.

“This information is all the more important, urgent even, since the Golden Visa program has raised criticism and alarm signals from the European Parliament, the European Commission and more recently the European Economic and Social Committee, because of the risks of corruption, money laundering and even the security implications for the EU as a whole,” she added.

Conflicts of interest and tautologies
Coroado neglects to mention that it is largely her own organization that’s been the origin of those claims and the chief emitter of “alarm signals”. They did not arise organically within European political bodies but were fed to them directly by TI, Global Witness, OCCRP and similar outfits. In fact, as exposed by the IMC in October and ignored by all but one media outlet (this one), employees at TI have actually done the leg-work for the European Parliament in preparing reports on the investment migration industry.

In other words, Transparency International itself first wrote the European Economic and Social Committee’s (EESC’s) report on investment migration, and is now effectively saying “look, even the EESC thinks golden visas are a major security and corruption risk”.

While that report was on the drawing board, the IMC sent repeated letters to its nominal authors asking to be included in the consultation process in its capacity as the industry association, one which devotes a tremendous amount of resources to academic research on the topic. These letters were ignored, resulting in a report consisting largely of TI’s pre-digested conclusions, a practice Bruno L’ecuyer, head of the IMC, termed “intellectually disingenuous”.

TI’s pursuit of transparency in investment migration is laudable and valid (at least as long as it is balanced by the equally valid objective of respecting privacy), and IMI, as a publication that dedicates much of its coverage to reporting accurate statistics for IM programs, looks forward to the upcoming cascades of new data for the Portuguese ARI.

But TI should, by the same token, acknowledge the legitimacy of programs that do conform to the highest standards of transparency, such as the Malta IIP. By not doing so, and in fact continuing to lambast the program as if it were purposely obfuscating its internal machinations, TI has shown its hypocritical hand; their motives grow not out of a devotion to the truth but, rather, to a particular political end.

 

Source: imidaily,com
Published: 4 January 2020

 

“THEY WANTED to destroy our industry,” says one of its insiders. “They” are European Union officials. The “industry” is the one selling CRBI schemes—Citizenship and Residence by Investment, that is, a travel document that allows you both to stay somewhere outside your homeland for as long as you want and to travel the world without too many constraints. In 2020 the future of this business will continue to be clouded by the EU’s suspicions and hostility. But the industry will also continue to grow.

Thousands of passports and hundreds of thousands of residence visas are bought every year. Around 100 countries around the world have schemes that offer residence—a “golden visa”—in return for a big investment. A dozen or so go further, and offer a passport, in effect selling citizenship. They include five Caribbean island-states, Vanuatu in the South Pacific, Jordan and several EU members: Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta (Austria has a less formal, and very expensive, scheme). The prices range from $150,000 in Vanuatu to an investment of at least £2m ($2.5m) for a British “Tier-1” investment visa.

The EU’s sensitivities about the business are understandable. Few issues are more central to ideas of national sovereignty than who lives in a country and carries its passport. Yet the EU clearly has an interest if the passport is a European one. And a visa granted by a member of the Schengen internal-border-free area also allows entry to 21 other countries in the EU.

The suspicion is that the schemes are abused by crooks, money-launderers and tax-dodgers. They are dogged by repeated scandals. In 2018 a scam was revealed in Greece, where an entrepreneurial purveyor of residence visas bought properties at market value and sold them at a big mark-up to would-be Chinese migrants (and then partially reimbursed them). In 2019 Bulgaria withdrew the citizenship of a number of investors, either because they had lied about themselves or had failed to make the promised investment, or both.

The EU’s stance matters to non-European countries operating such schemes, since one of the attractions of, for example, Caribbean passports is that most offer visa-free access to the Schengen countries. Even a requirement, to be introduced in 2021, for visa-free entrants to the EU to pre-register online (to weed out undesirables) is a deterrent for some would-be purchasers.

To defend itself, the passport-and-residence industry deploys a number of arguments. The first is that it is performing stricter due-diligence checks on its customers and easing the lives of fewer criminals. The second is that it is, for some small economies in particular, a useful source of debt-free capital. In Vanuatu the industry is now the largest single source of government revenue. Even within the EU itself, in Malta, where the investment-migration industry comes closest to a simple passport-for-sale model, it claims some of the credit for strong recent economic performance.

The industry also argues that only a tiny minority seek a second national residence for nefarious reasons. Many do so because they fear political or economic unrest, want a foreign education for their children or are simply fed up with the difficulty they have in crossing borders with their own passport. And the number of investment migrants is trivial compared with the millions who cross borders in other ways.

None of these arguments probably weighs as heavily with EU officials as the sheer difficulty of meddling in sovereign countries’ passport and visa regimes. Indeed, 2020 will see demand for the industry’s services grow. China has long been by far the biggest source of investment migrants. But other Asian countries, such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, are also becoming more important markets. So is sub-Saharan Africa. “Through gritted teeth,’’ says the industry insider, the EU has accepted that this line of business is not going to disappear.

Source: economist.com – Simon Long
Published: December 2019

Prime Minister Allen Chastanet has vowed that the best is yet to come for the south of Saint Lucia after the island held its first international horse race on December 13.

The race was held at the Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club making Saint Lucia the newest member of the international horse racing family.

“This signals the official beginning of a wave of positive development in Vieux Fort and surrounding communities,” Chastanet said in relation to the race.

He noted that Saint Lucia is now positioned to be part of the international racing fraternity and a leader in the region.

“We need to continue working now to build upon the goodwill and success of today and also work with our peers around the region to grow this sport and to create more opportunities for Saint Lucians,” he said the day the race was held.

He pointed out that as the track enters its second phase, components of the Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) will be used.

“As I have repeated, the Horse Racing Track has not been financed by CIP Funds, however as the DSH Group enters into the second phase of development which includes hotels, villas and other types of real estate development, the new Phase will have CIP components,” Chastanet explained.

The prime minister stated that over the next few days the government will be sharing more details on several aspects of the project, describing them as “exciting.”

 

Source: stlucianewsonline.com
Published: 16 December 2019

Egypt cabinet has approved new citizenship law paving way for foreign investors to seek fast track citizenship for investments in the country. The move is part of Egypt’s bid to boost its finances. Under the new citizenship by investment scheme, there are five paths to becoming an Egyptian national:

1. Donation: $250,000 (donation to state treasury, non-refundable)
2. Real Estate Investment: $500,000 (individuals or legal entities)
3. Investment project: $400,000 (foreigner’s share in the project cannot be less than 40%)
4. Bank Deposit: $750,000 (refundable after 5 years in the local currency, without interest)
5. Bank Deposit: $1 million (refundable after 3 years in the local currency, without interest)

The amounts stipulated in the 4th and 5th items have to be deposited into a special account under the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) treasury.

Prior to the latest rules, foreigners had to live in Egypt for ten consecutive years before applying for naturalization and citizenship, in general, was transferable through a father or mother.

Dual Citizenship: Persons who become naturalized Egyptian citizens may keep their original nationality if the other country permits it.

Egypt Passport Mobility: Egypt ranked No. 168 in the CEOWORLD magazine’s Global Passport Ranking for 2019, with 49 visa-free countries– but not, notably, the United States or the UK.

• Asia: Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Timor-Leste.
• Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde Islands, Comores Islands, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe.
• Oceania: Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Niue, Palau Islands, Samoa, and Tuvalu.
• Caribbean: Dominica, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
• Americas: Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua.
• Middle east: Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, and Yemen.

Egypt has no visa-free treaty with any major economic powers, such as the United States, China, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, India, France, Italy, Brazil, and Canada. Citizenship by investment is a practice and a choice offered for many seeking a second nationality in the countries where they often travel to or have a business in.

Egypt’s economy: Egypt’s economy is projected to grow by 5.8% of GDP in 2020 and to see a growth rate of 5.7% in 2021, according to study. The annual inflation rate is predicted to fall from 13.9 percent in 2019 to 5.9 percent in 2020. Egypt’s tourism is projected to hit a record of $15.1 billion in 2020 and $17.3 billion in 2021.

It also expected an increase in the volume of foreign direct investments to register $6.3 billion in 2020 and $7.3 billion in 2021. It expected that the country’s tax revenues will rise from $43.5 billion in 2019 to $53 billion in 2020 and to $58.6 billion in 2021.

The primary budget surplus will go up by 2.1% of GDP in 2020 and 2.2% in 2021, while the fiscal balance is projected to hit $26.8 billion in 2020 and $27.3 billion in 2021.

It suggested that the foreign debt will recede to 17.2% of GDP in 2020 and to 16.7% in 2021, the country’s foreign reserves will register $43.5 billion in 2020 and $41.7 billion in 2021.

 

Source: ceoworld.biz
Published: 16 December 2019

This report unpacks the key outcomes of the work of the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information over the last 10 years and sets out the next steps.

Read the Report

 

 

 

The head of the international Red Cross has sharply criticised Britain’s policy of stripping the citizenship of people held in Syria after the fall of Islamic State, saying it is “not conducive” to long-term peace in the region.

Peter Maurer said the UK and other western countries also needed to consider repatriating children held with their mothers in Syria’s overcrowded refugee camps – at a time when the UK Home Office has said no more returns of British minors are in the pipeline.

Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told the Guardian that he “failed to see” how denying people such as 19-year-old Shamima Begum their nationality would help a crisis made more complex by the recent Turkish invasion.

“There are things which are probably not conducive to a solution and I fail to see at the present moment how stripping citizenship and making people stateless or just pushing or betting on a second nationality which should deal with the issue brings more clarity,” he said.

The UK has repeatedly stripped citizenship from people who travelled over to join Isis where it believes they have a valid second nationality, although Begum – who left east London when she was 15 – has challenged such a decision in the British courts, arguing that she has in fact been rendered stateless.

The invasion of the border areas of Kurdish-dominated north-east Syria in October has led to further population displacement as locals have fled Turkey’s army, estimated by Maurer at “definitely more than 100,000 and probably closer to 200 [thousand]”, and further complicated the region’s humanitarian crisis.

The ICRC had been able to maintain access to al-Hawl, the largest refugee camp in north-east Syria, but said its access to camps and Isis prisons on the frontline had become more difficult. “We haven’t now revisited prisons now under the control of Turkish armed forces,” Maurer added.

But he warned that countries such as the UK that tried to ignore their citizens in the region unfairly increased the burden on Syria and neighbouring Iraq: “They have even more difficulties in terms of infrastructure, security, environment, and therefore we have to start somewhere.”

The ICRC estimated that there were roughly 10,000 to 15,000 families in the refugee camps from 60 to 70 countries, populations that were “overwhelmingly kids, some of them are accompanied by their mothers and some of them are orphans”.

Britain has been largely unwilling to take back children caught up in the conflict, arguing they pose a security risk, although last week the Foreign Office repatriated a small number of orphans for the first time following a special diplomatic mission.

A day later, however, the Home Office said the case was considered highly exceptional and it had no repatriations of children with a parent present in Syria in the pipeline. Save the Children has estimated that about 60 British children remain in the region.

“We are here not to forget about key humanitarian problems,” Maurer said, and added that he wanted to engage “with those governments who are sceptical about taking back their nationals to take a medium- to long-term view”, which he hoped might facilitate returns, particularly of mothers with children.

Isis fighters who needed to be put on trial should either be brought back and put on trial in their home countries, he added, or an arrangement should be struck with local authorities to bring them to courts there. “We do have a final opinion that you can’t detain and retain people without a basic process of law,” Maurer added.

About 60 British men and women remain in prisons or refugee camps in the region. One, Jack Letts, who left the UK to fight for Isis, has remained in detention since 2017 and had his British citizenship stripped, leaving him with the Canadian nationality of his father, while waiting for his situation to be resolved.

 

Source: theguardian.com
Published: 30 November 2019

It was right and proper that Lisa Smith and her daughter be brought back to Ireland as Irish citizens and treated in a humane manner. Depriving so-called Isis brides of citizenship — as the British and Dutch governments have done — renders them stateless and is pointless and self defeating.

It’s bad for security and undermines efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism. Islamic State grew partly from the US policy of keeping large numbers of extremists in a detention camp in Iraq. This allowed many Islamic State leaders to meet and plan their murderous strategies.

It also helped them to radicalise tens of thousands and helped create, at its height, an army of more than 70,000 fighters.

It’s bad for international law. Seeking to deprive someone of citizenship simply because they are problematical risks violating international legal obligations. It also sparks of colonialism.

It’s bad for gender equality. Prosecuting male returnees while refusing even to repatriate female ones, effectively gives women far less chance of defending themselves in a court of law than their male counterparts.

It is bad for the rights of children. As has happened with British and Dutch women, making them stateless has also made their children stateless, resulting in them spending their formative years in detention camps in Syria and Turkey.

As for Ms Smith, it was right and proper that she be taken immediately into Garda custody for questioning over her conduct when she joined the caliphate in Syria.

In the days, weeks, and months ahead, it will also be right that she be kept under close surveillance in Ireland in order to determine whether she poses any real threat to our security.

She has said repeatedly that she never fought with Isis yet it is established that she travelled to Syria during the Syrian civil war to join IS, reportedly marrying — and later divorcing — four Muslim men, among them IS fighter Sajid Aslam, who, she claims, is the father of her two-year-old daughter.

Neither has she at any stage made a strong, unequivocal condemnation of IS. In an interview last July with journalist Norma Costello for RTÉ, she spoke mainly of disappointment and anger.

“It wasn’t worth it. We failed,” she said.

“We actually thought it was going to be an Islamic State … and we would all be joined as one and be very happy. It didn’t happen.”

In the interview held at a detention camp in Syria, she also denied training young girls in how to handle weapons, even though as a former Irish soldier, she was well experienced in weaponry.

She claims she never participated in fighting, but photos have emerged of her posing with weapons in Tunisia.

Most disturbing of all, though, is her refusal to accept that her decision to go to Syria was in any way the result of holding extreme or radical views.

 

Source: irishexaminer.com
Published:  2 December 2019

Saudi Arabia granted citizenship to foreigners in fields such as medicine and technology on Thursday, in a bid to diversify the kingdom’s economy.

The changes are part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic and social reform plans to steer the economy away from its reliance on oil.

Citizenship is difficult to obtain in the Gulf as it is not traditionally offered to foreigners and expatriates living in the region.

The kingdom aims to attract “scientists, intellectuals and innovators from around the world, to enable the kingdom to become a diverse hub that the Arab world would be proud of”, Saudi Project, a government platform, said on Twitter.

Experts in forensic and medical science, technology, agriculture, nuclear and renewable energy, oil and gas and artificial intelligence will be considered.

People involved in arts, sports and culture are also included to “contribute and support the enhancement of Saudi competencies and knowledge that will benefit the general public”.

Saudi nationals typically receive stipends and economic benefits as their share of the country’s wealth.

The current Saudi citizenship law allows the naturalisation of foreign citizens who have held permanent residency in the kingdom for at least five years.

But the requirement of a Saudi sponsor has restricted foreigners living in the country from gaining permanent residency.

The royal decree stated that “worldwide candidates who applied for the citizenship and meet the criteria will be granted citizenship”.

Yemeni expatriates who are living in the kingdom will also be granted Saudi nationality.

Leila Al Hilali, a family therapist in Jeddah, said King Salman’s decree was a positive move that would empower the kingdom.

“This is a very important step that is much needed in the kingdom to diversify its economy and culture,” Ms Al Hilali told The National.

King Salman presents “the Saudi public with pleasant surprises that will have positive impacts on our country’, she said.

“This is a bold and beautiful step that the King has taken and it will take us further in developing the 2030 vision.

“The country has taken quick and decisive measures that will take our country to great lengths.”

The order also includes members of displaced tribes in the kingdom and residents who are descended from Saudi parents who did not obtain passports when the idea of citizenship was introduced in the last century.

It will also help to resolve the status of children born to mothers who are Saudi nationals but fathers who are not.

The economic and social benefits Saudi Arabia will reap from this initiative will be tremendous in terms of collaboration, openness, competitiveness and entrepreneurship, said Haider Hussain, Partner at immigration consultancy Fragomen UAE.

“These benefits will directly contribute to the advancement of the kingdom’s private and public sector, and will stimulate a stronger sense of community and tolerance between nationals and foreigners,” Mr Hussain told The National.

The move is a “strong testament to the kingdom’s commitment to attracting the best talent from around the world”, he said.

“Through this forward-thinking move, Saudi is illustrating to the world that the kingdom is open to new ideas and is ready to drive the economy further towards its ambitious goals.”

By making a decisive move to offer citizenship for foreign health professionals in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is seeking a competitive advantage over other Gulf countries, said Samuel Ramani, a doctoral researcher in international relations at the University of Oxford.

“This is a considerable boost to the Vision 2030 plan. One of the challenges in attracting outside talent to the Gulf is the inability to give them citizenship,” Mr Ramani told The National.

“It will bolster investment and increase the likelihood of corporations participating in Saudi investment forums.”

Last month, the kingdom issued its first batch of “premium” residence visas for investors, doctors, engineers or financiers who wish to live in the kingdom.

The programme offers foreign nationals and their families long-term visas and privileges that were previously not available to non-Saudis.

The kingdom also announced the launch of its new tourist visas in September that will grant people more than one entry to the country.

It is expected the announcement will create one million new jobs for the country by 2030.

 

Source: thenational.ae
Published: 5 December 2019

The chief executive of the Investment Migration Council, Mr Bruno L’ecuyer was invited to exchange views with the Council of Europe’s  Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons addressing Investment migration: trends, advantages, standards. The meeting took place in Paris on the 2^nd December 2019.

 

The following is the transcript of Mr L’ecuyer’ s intervention before the exchange of views:

Thank you for inviting me here today.

I would like to emphasize that the trade body I represent completely shares your guiding values: the respect of the rule of law, equality, protection of minorities, democracy, and the fight against corruption and terrorism.

As I have ten minutes, I have prepared a short overview of what this industry is, the drivers, the impact, the trends and the key areas that need to be addressed.

Investment Migration is a complex legal and technical phenomenon, and, as national governments are quick to assert, it is an absolute clear principle of EU law with regard to the acquisition of citizenship and immigration that this is the exclusive competence of member states.

This notwithstanding, I submit that it is important to consider the views of industry experts as these could prove extremely valuable to policymakers, especially when they wish to base their political recommendations on fact-based evidence of the trends, advantages, and standards that define this legal form of migration today.

We also prepared a briefing document entitled understanding Citizenship by Investment and this will be distributed today or tomorrow by the committee secretariat.

What is the widely accepted description of Investment Migration?

Investment migration is a form of legal migration used by over 80 sovereign states globally. It comprises various citizenship and residence by investment programmes which allow individuals to gain citizenship or residence rights in return for investments in their host countries and, in some occasions, but also meeting other residence requirements.

This should not be confused with Tax Residency which implies the determination of one’s personal tax jurisdiction. This distinction is of the utmost importance since residency and citizenship in such programmes is different from the determination of Tax Residency.

Investment migration programmes are also often structured around entrepreneurship potential — already a well-established practice in general immigration policy used in many OECD countries.

When managed effectively, this creates benefits to the individual, the host country, and wider society, facilitating peaceful integration in an increasingly interconnected world.

Drivers

Investment migration involves mainly 3 groups of actors:

1. Individuals

Investor migrants come from across the globe. They may be celebrities, sportspersons, world-class doctors, businesspersons, or others generally looking to relocate and build a better life for themselves and their families. Security, better education, career opportunities, and greater mobility are the main reasons why individuals apply to citizenship or residence by investment programmes.

2. Sovereign States

Countries ranging from the largest and most powerful to smaller peripheral economies run investment migration programmes to attract talent, experience, and investment. It is increasingly argued that investment migration positively contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), although more research is clearly needed here to verify this argument.

3. Professional Service Providers

The investment migration industry is serviced by law firms, due diligence providers, banks and professional consultants who assist governments and individuals, who are expected to ensure that appropriate checks are conducted on applicants and their sources of funds.

The Benefits

Broadly go into two categories:

1-          Benefits to Host Countries and Wider Society

Investment migration generates billions of euros in direct and indirect revenues. In smaller countries on the global periphery this revenue is often a lifeline to foreign investment and development finance.

The investments provide direct capital injections of non-debt liquidity to national balance sheets and thus also helps reduce the debt burden in many countries. For many host countries, such as those in the Caribbean, investment migration is critical in funding key government activities such as disaster relief and social programmes.

Programmes draw entrepreneurs who create business activity, which provides local employment and tax revenue for the State. The skills and talent they bring help to modernise and diversify local economies, providing a more sustainable basis for a country’s future.

For example, in Ireland, the investment migration programme has raised over half a billion euros since its launch in 2012.

There are also other aspects of successful investment migration programmes.

Often, the benefits to the receiving country are very local and directly enriching the community. There are many examples around the world, but the media often ignores those positives as they are not newsworthy.

Take, for example, the late Thai entrepreneur Mr Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. He was predominantly famous for investing in Leicester Football club – at least that is what media focused on. However, Vichai was a lot more than that. He was an investment migrant in the UK who, throughout his stay in Leicester city, gave away £2m in donations towards a new children’s hospital, and a £1m gift to the city’s university medical department.

These human stories show us that when investment migration programmes are well regulated, and all the necessary due diligence procedures are carried out, they are benefitting the society, they represent success stories for the locals and the migrants.

2-          Benefits to Individuals

Individuals often use investment migration to start a new business in their chosen jurisdiction, to benefit from greater mobility, better education and job opportunities for their children, or simply

to live in a country with greater political stability and rule of law. They see themselves as part of a global community in which migration is sustainable and mutually beneficial.

Trends

There is a trend towards greater maturity in the market, with an emphasis on attracting talent and not simply wealth as well as professionalising the industry.

5 years ago, most of the programmes were real estate based with the intended consequence of propping up the construction industry while that strategy has given results, governments now realise that in order to sustain this inflow of capital they must diversify the product. (cite Portugal, Malta).

There is a trend towards entrenching sustainable programmes, which require long-term credibility and trust rather than seeking short-term capital with little regard for its source.

An important trend also evidenced is the increasing options for potential migrants that are being considered and also proposed by sovereign states these include financing options for residence and citizenship programmes not previously available

Key Areas to Address

The investment migration sector faces concerns around issues such as transparency, due diligence, and the potential for illegal activities such as money-laundering or tax evasion that can occur when investment migration is abused.

There are currently a lack of common standards and regulation governing investment migration as well as many small firms that often lack  a professional approach  across the world. Each state administers its own programme.

This is a challenge for both industry and governments – one which is broadly acknowledged and understood by states and companies across the entire investment migration sector.

The IMC was founded with the intention of raising standards by bringing the stakeholders together through our non-profit forum.

We wholeheartedly support enhanced ethics, transparency and information-sharing mechanisms for governments that operate programmes. Implementing adequate data reporting obligations and ensuring that funds invested through investment migration are put to good use for the benefit of society are of paramount importance.

One of the first things we did was launch a code of ethics and professional standards for the industry back in 2015, we have subsequently launched an anti-bribery and corruption code – both specifically targeting stakeholders.

We strongly support the development of enhanced common due diligence standards to ensure only bona fide applicants are approved across all investment migration programmes. Further, investment migration programmes should not compete on their levels of due diligence.

This year we have commissioned independent research into DD with a view of creating a common framework of guidelines for governments and agents to adopt which meet the concerns that I have highlighted already.

The IMC seeks to ensure that all experts working on the field of investment migration are equipped with the required skills and knowledge to advise clients and follow the industry standards. That is why, in line with other recognised professions, we have initiated an education programme which provides professionals with the possibility to become certified in investment migration.

Legally, the acquisition citizenship remains a national competence, including for EU member states. However, that is not to say that multinational institutions cannot have an impact. On the contrary, we believe that it could be possible to agree on common due diligence standards for investment migration without affecting the conditions for attributing nationality. Those standards will work only if agreed on a supranational level.

Ideally, in the long run, such certification will become mandatory for all the professionals working in the industry.

Evidence

Research by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that investment migration is critical to foreign direct investment and government revenues in smaller states – in some Caribbean states it can account for 10-20% of GDP.

European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) research estimates that investment migration contributed 0.58% to Malta’s GDP and 2.5% of Cyprus’ GDP. (More than Cyprus’ entire agricultural sector.)

The EPRS also estimated that at least €9 billion has been invested through IM programmes across eight EU Member States in 10 years. The Irish programme alone has raised over half a billion euros since its launch in 2012.

Furthermore, the IMC publishes peer-reviewed multidisciplinary working papers dedicated to the analysis of investment migration around the world.

The series aims to advance understanding of the law, politics, sociology, economics, and history of the topic. The papers analyse the processes and long-term implications of investment migration and examine how investment migration programmes function in different countries.

The Role of the Industry

The IMC and its members are working proactively to develop:

Regulations

Effective best practice guidelines and regulation of investment migration should ensure the full benefits of programmes are realised while mitigating the risks of abuse. We believe the IMC has a crucial role to play in developing new rules and standards.

Mandatory Qualifications

A programme of mandatory specific qualifications is essential for all investment migration professionals to ensure standards are raised across the board – in line with other recognised professions.

Ongoing Gathering

Gathering better data and information will lead to a well-informed policy debate on this important and fast-growing sector. The IMC is proactively working with industry stakeholders to provide independent research into key areas that we have identified as priorities including: Due Diligence in Investment Migration, Setting Global Standards, National Security and Investment Migration, and Societal Benefits of Investment Migration.

Closing remarks:

To fairly assess the merits of Investment Migration, one should consider and address its benefits as well as its risks, both to the individual and to the wider society of a country offering citizenship or residency to investors.

Hopefully I’ve shown a balanced view of the industry, and I’m keen to address any questions you might have.

END<<<