Don’t Bank on It: The Question of Confidence in Local Governments

THE STAR Businessweek OCTOBER 27, 2018

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The squandering of American soft power Machiavelli said it is better to be feared than loved. But the Italian philosopher also cautioned against being hated.

The latest survey by the Pew Research Center on global attitudes towards the US and its president suggests that America is ignoring that advice

Don’t Bank on It:

The Question of Confidence in Local Governments

By Ed Kennedy, STAR Businessweek Correspondent

There’s been extensive coverage in the Caribbean and around the world surrounding the recent revelations in the region’s financial sector, and its offshore banking sector especially.

This is right and appropriate given the importance of this issue to people of the Caribbean and beyond. Yet so often this is a story of national governments interacting with other governments. While this is necessarily a focus, the heart of this issue is ultimately one between a Caribbean nation’s government and its voting citizens. So beyond calls for reform globally, what developments have been seen in recent times that impact this dynamic?

Continued on page 4

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Taiwan shifts gears as China poaches diplomatic allies Taiwan is trying to strengthen relations with influential democracies, as the country struggles to defend its international space against a diplomatic onslaught from China Page 7

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IDB launches Blue Tech Challenge

The IDB offers funding to businesses using cutting-edge technology in marine management

By Catherine Morris, STAR Businessweek Correspondent

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB or IDB) is an international organisation established in 1959 to support Latin American and Caribbean economic and social development and regional integration by lending mainly to governments and government agencies, including State corporations.

I

nnovative entrepreneurs with an interest in the ocean environment can grab up to US$2m in funding, courtesy of a new initiative launched by the the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in partnership with Compete Caribbean.

The Blue Tech Challenge invites firms that use cutting-edge technology to contribute to the sustainable management of marine resources to access loans and grants to develop their business model.

“Oceans provide food and a source of income to billions of people. We are looking for innovative technologies that contribute to enhancing the livelihoods, food security and economic development of the Caribbean region’s population,” says Compete Caribbean Executive Director Dr Sylvia Dohnert.

Tapping into the blue economy

The Caribbean’s crystal-clear waters aren’t just a draw for tourists, they’re also an important driver of economic growth, supporting and sustaining a variety of industries from diving to shipping.

Caribbean waters generated US$407bn in 2012, according to the World Bank which divides this total between living resources (conch, reef fish etc), non-living resources (oil and gas) and ecosystems (mangroves, coral reefs, deep ocean).

The blue economy is concerned with managing and monetising the marine and coastal environment. “The concept could be broadly defined as the range of economic sectors and related policies that together determine the use of oceanic resources,” says Dohnert. “The blue economy has

Dr. Sylvia Dohnert joined the Compete Caribbean team as Executive Director in November 2012. She specializes in conceptualizing and designing government policy and/or projects that will support private sector development

diverse components including established traditional ocean industries such as fisheries, tourism and maritime transport but also new and emerging activities such as offshore renewable energy, aquaculture, seabed extractive activities and marine biotechnology and bioprospecting.”

Across the region, islands depend on the ocean for their livelihoods yet these precious resources are at risk from pollution, over-exploitation of resources, development and other threats. Promoting conservation alongside commerce requires a delicate balancing act, and technology has a key role to play in developing longterm solutions. Dohnert says: “Since every sector of the blue economy is affected by technological advances it is essential Continued on page 5

US Foreign Policy

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The squandering of American soft power Perceptions of the US are hardening around the world

By FT Editorial Board

M

achiavelli said it is better to be feared than loved. But the Italian philosopher also cautioned against being hated. The latest survey by the Pew Research Center on global attitudes towards the US and its president suggests that America is ignoring that advice. It is no surprise the rest of the world does not much like President Donald Trump, and that negativity is particularly pronounced in Europe.

What is more serious is that the dislike is translating into feelings about the US as a whole. Traditionally, views of the nation and its president have been more separate.

There has been a dramatic fall in the percentage of people in most countries who believe that the US will take care of them, or their interests. A whopping 80 per cent of Germans, for example, say that the US is doing less to deal with global problems than it has in the past.

Declining perceptions of America on the world stage did not begin with Mr Trump. Before the 2013 furore over the National Security Agency and its pursuit of whistleblower Edward Snowden, a far higher percentage of the world believed that Americans took at least their own civil rights seriously. Far fewer still believe that to be true today.

The hardening of attitudes has been exacerbated by episodes of race-related violence, such as the 2014 shooting of a young black man in Ferguson, Missouri, and rising inequality. But the international perception of a unilateral, selfish, and even dangerous America

Hard power players: US president Donald Trump (right) greets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un © AFP

has risen precipitously under Mr Trump, and that applies to how the country treats its own citizens too. Only about a third of Europeans now believe that the US protects civil rights on its own soil.

Most people believe the US still does a better job on civil rights, though, than either China or Russia (which is admittedly a low bar). That is probably one reason why the proportion of Japanese who regard the US positively is up ten percentage points from last year, and the number of Koreans who have “confidence in” the US president is up by 22 points. China as a regional hegemon is still a scarier prospect than Mr Trump, who is also perceived as keeping North Korea at bay.

Despite this, falling numbers nearly everywhere else in the world show that

America’s soft power is at a tipping point.

Even among supporters of far-right populist parties in Europe, Mr Trump does not poll particularly well. Less than half have favourable views.

That is perhaps to be expected in the Hobbesian world the US president seems bent on creating.

The Trump administration has made it clear that it cares only about hard power — tariffs, trade wars, and threats of military action. Yet soft power has huge value, particularly in a more polarised and complex world. And while views of American presidents are notoriously volatile, the international view of the nation itself takes longer to shift. Once soft power is lost, it is hard to regain it.

It will be difficult for Americans

themselves to agree on how to repair their national reputation, if indeed it is possible. Pew data shows that, as in everything these days, there is a perception gap between Republicans and Democrats about how the rest of the world views the US and its president.

Only 42 per cent of Republicans say America under Mr Trump is less respected than it used to be. Some 83 per cent of Democrats believe it is.

Meanwhile, 80 per cent of Republicans believe that other countries are “taking advantage” of the US. Only 20 per cent of Democrats feel that way.

The rest of the world will be watching to see which group turns out in greater numbers to vote in November’s midterm elections.

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Don’t Bank on It: The Question of Confidence in Local Governments Continued from page 1

Citizenship and Governance in the Caribbean

In broad terms, a citizen’s engagement with government has only become more difficult in recent years. This owes to a number of factors including a growing frustration with government surrounding global trends that hit locally. Each nation and each community experiences them differently, but with common elements.

The rising cost of living, diminishment of traditional jobs and emerging social challenges — such as how to maintain operations in education and healthcare when young people will need to learn differently and life expectancy is increasing and redefining what a ‘senior’ is — have created a gulf between what citizens seek, and what government can deliver.

This in turn has seen new tensions emerge on a deeper level between citizens and government. Beyond the general duties of government in providing security, making laws and maintaining essential services, recent global phenomenons, like Brexit in the UK, have evidenced a strong shift in public sentiment.

Since the end of World War II the postwar liberal order has seen democratic nations around the world by and large subscribe to policies that promote international engagement, free trade and a spirit of openness, welcoming to people of all backgrounds.

That has changed markedly in more recent times. Led most prominently by the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump, many nations are looking anew at the idea of isolationism; of ‘pulling back’ from the world community, and focusing on their own affairs at

home. This aim is pursued even though it seems impossible for any nation in the 21st century so integrated into the global economy to withdraw, and it will only grow harder in future.

The same applies to economics, where protectionist policies have looked to replace free trade ones; again, often regardless of whether such policies actually protect struggling industry or endanger it more.

The new immigration debate seen in many nations is also often viewed as not merely one about immigration but about a pushback against multiculturalism by some voters.

A Bad Time to Lack Good Faith

Many voters continue to feel disaffected and it can become a dangerous cycle.

As disaffected voters don’t engage, then the quality of input (and pressure when necessary) on a government from citizens diminishes in turn.

For many years the promise of technology has been forecast in this space as a beacon that would make it easier and fairer for citizens’ engagement with government.

While there is real promise, there is also the reality that progress ideally would have occurred sooner. Optimists are right to have great hopes for digital democracy but it’s also plain that people cannot wait forever, especially as the danger of voter disaffection comes at a time when the democratic system is being tested by external pressure. Not only has the past decade seen powerful authoritarian rulers assert themselves anew on the global stage, but also doing so via insidious means.

Long gone are the days when a foreign government required a physical presence to threaten a nation’s security inside its borders.

Haitian demonstrators ask: “Where is the PetroCaribe money?”

In its place is the capacity to interfere in elections, attack critical national infrastructure and even just simply undermine the capacity for citizens to communicate clearly and openly with their government, free of propaganda and other intrusions.

Certainly there is never a good time for citizens to feel a fatigue with democracy.

But with the growing technological power of authoritarian governments to not only

control their citizens at home but project power abroad, it can be said that this era is an especially bad time for such a development. Yet, as a result of big global challenges being being visible within the local context across many nations, the interweaving of the two is essentially unavoidable.

It is here, especially, that many people of the Caribbean can feel a unique frustration

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governing process. In doing so, it has compounded the raw feeling of frustration — indeed, anger — that many voters have held for a long time.

when it comes to the ongoing challenges of dealing with the revelations of the Panama and Paradise Papers, and what new reforms within the offshore banking sector across regional nations entails.

The reform process here not only demands more time and energy in government offices around the region, but in some instances has highlighted systemic challenges within the

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IDB launches Blue Tech Challenge Continued from page 2

The Local Pain of Government Corruption

Right now these challenges are being seen most vividly in Haiti. Recent weeks have seen two killed as thousands took to the streets in anti-corruption protests following the release of a government report surrounding the alleged involvement of two former prime ministers in a PetroCaribe embezzlement scandal.

It’s also been seen elsewhere, and affirms it is not simply a question of leaders, but of systems.

As Jamaican lawyer Greg Christie has observed in writing of his own nation, progress on corruption will not occur if institutions themselves are structurally flawed.

It’s also been seen here in Saint Lucia which, over the last year, lost ground in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, slipping 5 places from 55th to 60th in the world where nations are ranked as least corrupt.

Decisive reforms to address the offshore banking issues are not only in the interest of local governments in their diplomatic relations with global stakeholders, but also with their own citizenry.

After all, it’s not hard to follow the argument that citizens of a nation with porous offshore banking laws are not the biggest beneficiaries, but in fact the greatest victims, of its egregious and odorous flaws.

But any framing of the offshore banking sector as a story of the ‘people vs the power’ would be unacceptable. Yes, local governments face pressure abroad, but it’s their citizens who require reforms most.

OCTOBER 27, 2018

2016 World Bank report “Toward a Blue Economy: A Promise for Sustainable Growth in the Caribbean” estimates that Caribbean waters generated US$407 billion in 2012, which represents more than 17 percent of Caribbean GDP, including mainland countries.

to take advantage of this trend to pilot new approaches, develop new materials and implement novel approaches that deliver pragmatic and tangible solutions for business models that, at the same time, foster the longterm sustainability of the ocean economy.”

The Blue Tech Challenge organisers hope to see all kinds of disruptive technology come to light under the scheme, including marine biotechnology, renewable energies, marine R&D, subsea engineering, sensors and imaging, satellite technology, big data, robotics and nano-technology.

As technology evolves, and machines become ever more sophisticated, their potential role in the blue economy expands. Commercial shipping is using more automated processes as they harness the efficiencies of Artificial Intelligence, seabed mining companies are employing robotics to explore the sea floor, marine aquaculture is making more use of biotechnology to increase yields. The field is full of creative thinkers and the IDB is looking to encourage the Caribbean to follow suit.

Targeting Saint Lucia

The Blue Tech Challenge targets 14 Caribbean countries, one of which is Saint Lucia. “One characteristic of this group of countries is that close to 100 per cent of the population depend on the oceans for their basic livelihood, food security and economic development. Saint Lucia fits this profile with its 158km of coastline in the Caribbean Sea,” says Dohnert. ‘We believe that the private sector [in Saint Lucia] will have a lot

of innovative ideas and solutions to contribute to this challenge.”

All companies in Saint Lucia who are using disruptive technology in the areas of environmental protection, solid waste management, improved monitoring of ocean ecosystems, management of sargassum and access to finance for marine enterprises should apply, according to Dohnert who says applicants will be able to maximise their economic, social and environmental impact through the initative.

Not only that, but they will be playing their part in securing natural resources for the next generation of Saint Lucians.

Dohnert says: “By preserving our oceans and reducing the damage to marine ecosystems, coastal communities can thrive and future generations can enjoy a stable and productive blue economy. The European Union estimates that the global blue economy is set to grow faster than the general economy, possibly doubling in size by 2030. However, the true potential of the blue economy can only be realised if our ocean’s sustainability is secured.”

How to apply

The IDB is currently accepting proposals for the challenge, and the closing date for submissions is November 30. Entrants can apply for either technical grants or loans. Requests for grants should be within US$150,000 to US$500,000, while loans range from US$500,000 to US$2m. Those that qualify will also become part of the IDB Group’s network of innovators, giving them the opportunity to connect with other businesses, leaders and innovators in the Caribbean at networking events.

Applicants must demonstrate the economic viability of their project and show that they can contribute at least 50 per cent of the project budget. They will be evaluated on the degree of innovation involved, the social and environmental impact, scalability, financial stability, capacity and risk. Proposals can be submitted online: http://convocatorias.iadb.org/ bluetechchallenge/home Those who make the shortlist will be notified in December and the winning proposals will be announced in February 2019 following close review from a judging panel comprised of international experts in ocean economy.

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OCTOBER 27, 2018

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Citizenship by Investment ProgramMEs: Financial Secrecy Or a tool to achieving Globalization?

Each day approximately 350,000 babies are born worldwide, according to a UNICEF estimate, with the majority of these births taking place in Asian and African countries Passports

Citizenship by Investment is a process whereby wealthy individuals can obtain a second citizenship extremely quickly in exchange for an investment or donation

A

new-born doesn’t get to choose his/her place of birth — this is one of the things which are beyond one’s control.

Yet, when it comes

to international travel, individuals are often discriminated against on the basis of their place of birth and/or original nationality, the latter usually determined by the nationalities of the parent(s) or the place of birth.

All nationalities are not equal, and all passports cannot afford the same privileges to their bearers. Some passports afford the convenience of travelling to a great number of countries around the world without the need for a prior visa while other passportholders have to go through the hassle of obtaining a visa before they can make their travel plans, either for business or pleasure.

Despite all the talks of justice, equality and globalization, individuals at international borders are treated not on the basis of their talents but on their nationality which, at birth, is beyond their control.

Let’s study a (real) case of a North African business executive’s family: the gentleman, working for a US corporation, was posted in the States during the early years of his career, where his wife gave birth to their first child — a son — who, by virtue of ius soli, the law of soil as practised in the Americas, became a US citizen.

Some years later, the gentleman moved

to his native country as an executive in a large Middle Eastern group and the couple was blessed with their second child — a daughter — who, by virtue of ius sanguinis, the right of blood — a rule practised in the majority of countries around the world — became a citizen of their native country.

The siblings were born to the same parents but the first child, the son, has the liberty to access more than 170 destinations around the world while the second child, the daughter, cannot even visit the nearest European country without first obtaining a visa.

Let’s look at another (real) case: a specialist doctor from an Asian country has to obtain a visa in order to attend a conference in London. This requires him to take a considerable amount of time from his busy practice in order to visit the visa centre of the British High Commission to first submit his visa application along with Continued on page 8

The Saint Lucia Registry of Companies & Intellectual Property Company Incorporations Name: Global Imports and Logistics Inc.

Name: Maverick Construction & Equipment Ltd.

Description: Consulting and accounting services

Description: Construction

Directors: Ronald Joseph; Kayode Francois

Directors: Troynie Busette

Date Incorporated: 17-Sep-18

Date Incorporated: 5-Oct-18

Chamber: Crowne Corporate Services Ltd., Saint Lucia Chamber: Pierre, Mondesir & Associates Chambers, Saint Lucia Name: JASH Ltd. Description: Property management Directors: Cecile Philip; Jana Philip Date Incorporated: 2-Oct-18

Name: Clear Bay Investments Inc. Description: Property holding company Directors: Mark Maloney; Roy Davies; Thomas Tyler Date Incorporated: 10-Oct-18

Chamber: McNamara & Co. Chambers, Saint Lucia

Chamber: RDM Chambers, Saint Lucia

Name: Island Limes Ltd.

Name: Floissac Receivables Management

Description: Tourism tours

& Consulting Services Inc.

Directors: Marva Paul

Description: Consultation

Date Incorporated: 3-Oct-18 Chamber: Brickstone Law Chambers, Saint Lucia

Directors: Ingrid Floissac; Peter Floissac Date Incorporated: 10-Oct-18 Chamber: Brickstone Law Chambers, Saint Lucia

Name: BZ Car Rentals Ltd.

Name: 2T Promotion Inc.

Description: Car rental services

Description: Events promotion

Directors: Bradley Nicholas

Directors: Tovah Gibson; Royron Adams

Date Incorporated: 3-Oct-18

Date Incorporated: 10-Oct-18

Chamber: Brickstone Law Chambers, Saint Lucia

Chamber: Brickstone Law Chambers, Saint Lucia

Taiwan

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Taiwan shifts gears as China poaches diplomatic allies

Taipei looks to build links with big democracies as old partners switch to Beijing

By Kathrin Hille, FT Correspondent in Taipei

T

aiwan is trying to strengthen relations with influential democracies, as the country struggles to defend its international space against a diplomatic onslaught from China.

Taipei is seeking to build a web of ties that might help soften the blow if one day the number of its diplomatic allies — now 17 — drops to zero.

The government of President Tsai Ing-wen has engaged in dialogue with unofficial representatives of the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, emphasising shared threats emanating from China to a host of pragmatic co-operation projects.

Taiwan has been functioning as a sovereign state since Japan, its colonial ruler for the previous 50 years, was defeated in the second world war in 1945. But the People’s Republic of China claims it as its territory.

But since the Democratic Progressive Party, which refuses to recognise that Taiwan is part of a single Chinese nation, won both the presidency and control over parliament in 2016, Taiwan has lost five of its diplomatic allies to China. The Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Burkina Faso have all switched recognition to Beijing within the past six months.

The Vatican signed an agreement with China in late September on the appointment of Catholic bishops, serving as a reminder to Taipei that the clock might be ticking on its last diplomatic relationship in Europe.

Ms Tsai frequently stresses the values

A protest last month against Taiwan’s continued exclusion from the UN and the international community © AP

Taiwan shares with other democracies such as freedom, transparency, equality and adherence to a rules-based order. Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister, has institutionalised this approach since taking office in February through informal meetings with diplomats from the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

“They have really stepped up the game with the like-minded countries,” said a European diplomat in Taipei. “It was long overdue.”

Taiwan’s official allies, many impoverished, autocratically run small nations, are often frowned upon by Taipei’s own diplomats. But without them, Taiwan’s claim to sovereignty could be shaken further.

“Losing all diplomatic recognition would be a big blow to public confidence,” said a senior Taiwanese government official.

Allies speak up for Taiwan at forums where it is not allowed to participate, such as the UN General Assembly. Taiwan’s president would also no longer be able to travel via the US to visit diplomatic allies.

“Our political leader would be trapped on the island,” the official said.

Such a scenario has come to look more likely with the current government losing

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allies at a faster rate than during the last DPP administration of Chen Shui-bian, who lost nine allies in eight years.

“There was the belief that China would not take all diplomatic allies away because once we lost them all, the call for Taiwan independence would become quite natural and receive more sympathy,” said Lai I-chung, former head of the ruling DPP’s China affairs department. “But I think right now China is trying to do everything to just eliminate us from the international community.”

Traditionally, all that mattered to Taipei was its relationship with the US; despite switching recognition to China in 1979, Washington has maintained a commitment to help Taiwan defend itself.

The Taiwanese government sees an opportunity to strengthen this relationship as the US grows increasingly wary of China.

“There is a real, bipartisan debate in the US now that engagement has failed,” said a senior Taiwanese government official. “People realise that with cyber attacks, meddling in elections, intellectual property theft, they really face some very similar threats as we do.”

Over the past year, the US Congress has

adopted legislation calling for more official visits to Taiwan and Ms Tsai embarked on a high-profile trip in August.

The US administration also recalled its ambassadors from the Central American countries that recently switched recognition, criticising attempts to change the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait.

“Tsai has behaved correctly so as not to inflame cross-strait relations directly, though Beijing will always be suspicious of her de-sinification efforts,” said Douglas Paal, a vicepresident at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan. “For this reason, the US has every reason to give her face.”

The next important test case for Taipei’s pragmatism in pursuing better relations with Washington will be whether the two can overcome decades-old differences over imports of US pork and beef and start talks towards a bilateral trade deal.

Taipei is also increasingly reaching out to Europe. “The current government’s foreign policy is quite radically different from [the past DPP presidency],” said Michael Reilly, a former UK representative to Taiwan.

“Back then, some of my European colleagues felt that there was not enough attention on Europe.”

Taiwan’s liberal stance on sexuality — the constitutional court ruled last year that gay marriage must be allowed — has struck a chord with several European countries. Mr Reilly said Taipei would be well advised to renew its moratorium on the death penalty to earn more goodwill in Europe.

Taipei has also been more active in the Asia-Pacific region. The government has sought a dialogue with India. It has also tried to shake off the legacy of “cheque book diplomacy” by having discussions with Australia and New Zealand on raising efficiency and improving governance in aid to Pacific island nations.

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Citizenship by Investment Programmes: Financial Secrecy Or a tool to achieving Globalization?

Continued from page 6

his passport and then return to collect it.

Meanwhile, his fellow doctors from the socalled first-world countries, albeit having the same qualifications, can simply book a flight to London without going through any visa hassles.

This discrimination, regardless of the reasons behind it, can create a desire for acquiring second citizenship — a citizenship which comes with a wellrespected passport.

citizenship schemes

Several countries around the world, which do not have huge economies, contemplated the need for designing such foreign direct investment programmes through which bona fide investors could be encouraged to make a significant economic contribution to the host country.

In return, the investors would be granted citizenship of that country. The grant of citizenship to foreigners on the basis of significant investment — or extraordinary talent — has been in practice for centuries.

The famous Nottebohm case, cited in the International Court of Justice, was the first reported case of Citizenship by Investment.

Friedrich Nottebohm, a German national, was naturalized in Liechtenstein in 1939 on the basis of payment to the Commune (the State) of a security sum deposit and payment of annual naturalization tax, subject to the proviso that the payment of these taxes would be set off against ordinary taxes which would become due if the applicant took up residence in Liechtenstein.

St. Kitts and Nevis was, however, the first country in the world to formally regulate the grant of citizenship to foreign investors. Granting citizenship to foreigners upon making an investment is a concept currently practised by ten countries, with two more expected to join them by the end of 2018. Most of the applicants for such programmes originate from Asia, the Middle East, former Soviet Union states and Africa. The passports of most of these countries are not well-regarded, hence

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These so-called “economic citizenships” are largely valuable to four types of people: US citizens who wish to lower their tax obligations to Uncle Sam; emerging world citizens who wish to increase their ability to travel; business owners and investors who are looking for a ‘Plan B’ to hedge against unpredictable conditions back home; people whose nationalities are banned from doing business in certain countries

the desire of individuals to obtain an alternate citizenship.

Over a period of time, the countries offering Citizenship by Investment have established strong protocols to ensure that persona non grata do not misuse these programmes.

It should also be noted that tax planning — or tax evasion — is rarely a side benefit of these programmes.

The applicants from a Gulf country, for example, do not need any new strategy to avoid taxation because of a very low, and efficient, taxation in their own country. Moreover, individuals who may want to avoid paying taxes on their assets do not even need to opt for a second citizenship as there are extremely tax-efficient vehicles available in different jurisdictions, including in some American states like Delaware, Nevada and Wyoming, which do not require the beneficiary to be a citizen of the host country.

The Financial Secrecy Index 2018 — the world’s most comprehensive assessment of the secrecy of financial centres and the impact of that secrecy on global financial flows — indicates that six out of the top ten FSI 2018 countries are either members of the OECD or their dependencies.

Interestingly, none of the countries operating CBI programmes comes in the top ten countries on the list , while no Caribbean country with a CBI

programme comes in even the top 50 jurisdictions listed in this financial secrecy index.

Merely stating that the Citizenship by Investment programmes help individuals in avoiding taxation would be a very farfetched statement.

Opting for robust due diligence standards, many of which are already in place, coupled with a consolidated industry voice is the need of the hour. Most of the programmes are efficiently designed yet the industry does lack a consolidated voice to counter the occasional negative attention, or scrutiny, that these schemes sometimes attract from the global watchdogs, intergovernmental and/or supra-national organisations.

About the Author: Dr. Hussain Farooq is the President of HF Corporation, a citizenship advisory firm. HF Corporation on one side advises high net worth individuals on acquisition of second citizenship and residence by way of Citizenship by Investment, while on the other hand it runs a governmentadvisory practice that liaises with different governments to build up strategies for bolstering foreign direct investment, in their respective countries, through (re)structuring and promotion of such programmes.

To contact the author, please email info@hfcorporation.co

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