On WINN FM’s ‘Voices’ radio programme on 6th June, citizens were given the unique opportunity to receive first hand information about the structure of the Citizenship By Investment (CBI) programme from Chief Executive Officer of the Citizenship Investment Unit (CIU)- Mr Les Khan.
Mr Khan explained the due diligence process that is used to determine which applicants qualify for the programme;
“The application for citizenship starts with an agent overseas. At that point there is an application form that’s filled, there is a due diligence process that is in place. The agent has to run a KYC, which is a ‘Know Your Client’, they must do some research to find out if the person has a sound background. Then they will take that application and they will send it to St. Kitts but it must go through a local service provider. Now a local service provider is basically a lawyer or accountant who is registered with FSRC, Financial Services Regulation Commission, they then register with me as an approved service provider. They are the only ones who can submit a file to the CIU, so even in that process they have to verify the accuracy of the application that has been provided and there are some key documents that we need in order to start the due diligence process. Like for example, we need the applications to be completely filled out, we need to see the signatures of the applicants, we need to see a marriage certificate, birth certificate, passport, national ID, these are some of the documents that we need at that point in time. We then send off to an international due diligence agency, recognised due diligence companies, which then take about 30-40 days to do a check on the individual.”
The CEO of the Citizenship Investment Unit also addressed the controversial ‘Hurricane Relief Fund’. This was a mechanism established by the Unit to raise revenue to fuel disaster recovery efforts, which attracted the criticism, that the Federation was pushing the region’s CBI programmes into a ‘race to the bottom’.
“A lot of people felt that we announced the Hurricane Relief Fund at a time after the hurricanes came but the process and the thought process of creating the Hurricane Fund started way before that, at least a month before the hurricanes. At that point in time, the Prime Minister and Cabinet considered the option, to respond to potential damage that would be created as a result of a major hurricane. It was intended, is intended, to enhance the infrastructure of the country, to make it more resilient to the forces of nature and to ensure that plans are in place for the future. They talked about a race to the bottom and everyone hears about a race to the bottom but St. Kitts was not involved in a race to the bottom. Our price and our fund reflected the market requirements and if you look at Dominica, St. Lucia and Antigua who went much lower than we were, way before we did, this was the first time that St. Kitts and Nevis had made adjustments to its programme.”
Callers took the opportunity to direct questions to the CEO of the Citizenship Investment Unit.
“Why if our CBI has been cleaned up, we still do not have visa free access to Canada and FinCEN’s advisory has still not been lifted at all to say that these countries [no longer] have difficulties with the CBI?” the caller said.
Mr. Khan replied in turn:
“The engagement with FinCEN [Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] and my experience with FinCEN, from my international banking experience and I did have engagements with them, it takes a long time to convince them and to convince the authorities that your process has improved. I mentioned earlier in the programme that I had worked at HSBC with an engagement and that was a FinCEN advisory too, and we were there for over two years working on trying to get FinCEN to raise the warning that had been provided, so I’m fully cognisant of the fact that raising any warnings, getting back visa waivers, it’s a long and tedious process. From the perspective of the CIU and the CBI Unit, it is our job to ensure that we put in the right processes and that we make our partners aware of the solid due diligence and the solid processes that we have and we continue to have those engagements.”
Mr. Khan’s appearance on Voices comes on the heels of the recently concluded Caribbean Investment Summit which was held in St. Kitts on the 17th and 18th of May 2018.
Mr. Khan explained that the main objectives of the summit were for countries operating CBI Programmes in the region, who are members of the Citizenship by Investment Programmes Association (CIPA)- for which is he is also the Chairman, to share information with each other about the challenges that they face in the management of their CBI programmes, as well as the best practices that they employ.
Source/Credit: WINNFM
