ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government remains confident that evaluating the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI) by the United Kingdom will lead to a favorable outcome.
A statement issued following the first Cabinet meeting after the general election that saw the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) being returned to office noted that London had indicated that it would be examining all the CBI programs in the English-speaking Caribbean to determine the extent to which those programs undermine the security of the UK.
“Antigua and Barbuda has an extreme due diligence investigative machinery in place; it ensures that only those high-caliber applicants that have no negative reports are approved for citizenship,” the Cabinet statement said.
The island is among other regional countries, including Dominica, Str. Kitts-Nevis, Grenada, and St. Lucia with CBI programs that provide citizenship to foreign investors in return for making a substantial investment in the socio-economic development of these islands.
Speaking at the post-Cabinet news conference on Thursday, Information Minister Melford Nicholas told reporters that Cabinet held discussions with the chief executive officer of the CBI program here, Charmaine Quinland-Donovan, who assured them that there were no issues with the local program.
Nicholas said that since Brexit, the United Kingdom has been putting out “feelers” about border security issues.
But he told reporters that Quinland-Donovan had advised the Cabinet that “none of those breaches would be associated with any CBI citizen based on those approved.
“She was able to indicate that a number of the OECS jurisdictions which have similar CBI programs have made certain changes and are looking towards adopting some of the measures that we have in place,” he said.
Nicholas said he hopes other regional governments will work more collaboratively “to ensure that as a common group, we are doing everything possible to stave off any debilitating changes that may occur in the European Union.”
Nicholas also announced that Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Quinland-Donovan, and the British High Commissioner, Lindsy Thompson, will be held soon and that the information presented to the United Kingdom government will be favorable.
“If we were to receive any early indication that (the UK) is going in a direction other than we would like, I am certain we will put the necessary resources to lobby for a more favorable outcome,” he added.
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