Offshore
Investment Migration Council Sets Up Caribbean Office
An industry group representing practitioners in the market for "golden visas" has set up an office in the Caribbean.
The
Investment Migration Council, a global group bringing
together practitioners in the field for
citizenship-by-investment, sometimes dubbed “golden visas,” has
opened an office in the Caribbean, a region already home to
several jurisdictions marketing citizenship programmes.
The office is represented by Latitude Consultancy Limited, IMC,
which is headquartered in Geneva, said in a statement
yesterday.
Dozens of jurisdictions around the world market citizenship in
return for investment; sums and other conditions of getting a
passport/residency vary. These schemes are not just run by small
countries or emerging market nations, but also by developed
countries seeking to pull in investors from around the world. The
US has a programme for high net worth investors – drawing
attention from investors in China – as does the UK with its Tier
1 system. Spain, Portugal and Malta are among other "golden visa"
states to have developed programmes in recent years. These
schemes are sometimes controversial – opposition
politicians in the UK, for example, have suggested the
programme is socially unjust and not worth the money. In
Hungary, that country’s programme has been criticised in
a report by the IMC in conjunction with Transparency
International, a group lobbying about issues of corruption and
governance.
IMC said its Caribbean office will have its own committee,
contribute to elevating standards regionally and is also expected
to organize briefings, provide cross-network opportunities, act
as an information station for governments, the public and media
as well as being a centre for members.
The office is responsible for the following sovereign states and
dependent territories: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica,
Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Cayman Islands, British
Virgin Islands, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Christopher Willis, managing director, Americas & Caribbean,
Latitude Consultancy, will run daily operations at the office.
