On 29 August 2024, the five Eastern Caribbean countries that offer Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programmes and the United States Department of the Treasury held a productive Roundtable in Grenada to discuss the status of implementation of the Six CBI Principles.
The CBI countries were represented by delegations comprising the Chairs, Chief Executive Officers and technical staff from the CBI Programmes
- Antigua and Barbuda,
- Commonwealth of Dominica,
- Grenada,
- Saint Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis, and
- Saint Lucia.
Also represented were delegations from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank led by Governor Mr Timothy N.J. Antoine and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Commission led by Director General Dr. Didacus Jules.
Six Principles
The Principles are geared toward strengthening the governance of the CBI Programmes and mitigating money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
The six principles agreed during the previous conferences are the following:
- Collective agreement on treatment of denials: Not to process applications from persons whose applications have been denied in another CBI jurisdiction, by proactively sharing information on denials. Countries have agreed on collective treatment of denials and have started to implement those denials on a bilateral basis as they work towards a more sustainable and effective coordinated mechanism to instantaneously share and coordinate on denials through CARICOM’s Joint Regional Communications Centre.
- Interviews: Conduct interviews with applicants, whether virtual or in-person.
- Additional checks: Each jurisdiction will run checks on each application with the Financial Intelligence Unit of its respective country.
- Audits (pending): Audit the Programme annually or every two years in accordance with internationally accepted standards.
- Retrieval of passports (pending): Request law enforcement assistance to retrieve revoked/recalled passports.
- Treatment of Russians and Belarusians: Suspend processing applications from Russians and Belarusians. Four jurisdictions have already suspended applications and Grenada which processes applications from Russians and Belarusians with enhanced due diligence, will suspend processing new applications from Russia and Belarus from March 31, 2023.
The CBI countries are assiduously progressing towards fully implementing the remaining two Principles (Audits and Retrieval of Revoked Passports).
Regulatory Commission
The United States delegation welcomed progress by the region in establishing an independent regional regulator, as envisioned in the MOA, to set standards, regulate and supervise the Programmes and, if necessary, take corrective actions. The region will soon announce the appointment of an Interim Regulatory Commission, which will be tasked with establishing the regional regulator.
The CBI countries remain resolute in collectively enhancing the risk management and mitigation for the Programmes and are appreciative of the ongoing support by the United States Treasury for its efforts.
