CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC—Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet said Tuesday that the European Union has expressed “serious concerns” about St. Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI).
He said that the opposition has been “reliably informed” that Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre, who left here on Monday for Brussels for discussions with members of the European Commission and European Parliament regarding international migration matters, had been “summoned due to serious concerns about the operation of this program.
“We, as a party, have been sounding the alarm for almost two years since Government and the Prime Minister in particular, changed the rules governing the Economic Fund to allow Cabinet to use the CBI monies freely and due to their damning decision to continue accepting Russian and Iranian applications at the commencement of the Ukraine war despite international concerns,” Chastanet said in a statement.
On Monday, a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said Pierre would be in Europe until April 12 and that “specifically, the talks will focus on proposed changes to the Schengen Visa-Free Regime and how they may impact countries that have investor citizenship programs, like St. Lucia.”
St. Lucia is among a number of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries with CBI programs, which allow foreign investors to receive citizenship in return for making substantial investments in the country’s socio-economic development.
The government statement said that St. Lucia is well known for its “robust due diligence processes, which serve as the foundation of its successful CBI program” and that Prime Minister Pierre’s visit to Brussels, although planned for the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between other OECS countries with similar programs “assumes added significance, as the Prime Minister will articulate St. Lucia’s position on the MOA, while also exploring further measures that all countries can take to strengthen citizenship-by-investment programs.”
But Chastanet said that Europe is concerned about the St. Lucia government’s “refusal to commit to the OECS joint protocols and the recent addition of an infrastructural option have collectively undermined confidence in our program.
“This raises serious security and transparency concerns and threatens to impact our current visa-free access to the United Kingdom and Europe, including Martinique and Guadeloupe. There is also a real risk that the US and Canada could reverse their recently granted concessions to allow us to apply and renew our visas online,” he added.
Last month, St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew, who is also the chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) sub-regional grouping, said the MOA seeks to assure the international community that the OECS member states will exchange best practices, due diligence processes, and intelligence related to potential security or compliance risks.
He said the MOA’s purpose is to provide a framework for cooperation and information sharing among the four OECS member states regarding their CBIs.
“The four small island developing states who signed this memorandum have committed to increase and harmonize the minimum investment threshold of their CBIs to an investment sum of at least US$200,000 no later than June 30, 2024, and more importantly, to bring an end to ‘underselling,’ a scourge on the CBI industry in the recent past.
“We have therefore agreed that the minimum investment thresholds for our CBIs shall represent the actual amount of funds received and applied towards an applicant’s qualification under our respective CBIs, and not the gross amount of funds paid by an applicant from which deductions, including the payment of commissions, are made,” Drew said.
Chastanet said that the St. Lucia government recently announced during the presentation of the Budget Estimates that the Donation Option within the CBI program only achieved 50 percent of its projected revenue as it was negatively affected by the Real Estate option. “While no further explanation was offered, it has been reported that the Real Estate option is being sold unlawfully at a discounted price, which the Government has not denied or confirmed to date.
“The Government has also launched a new option which will allow certain approved developers to undertake infrastructure projects for the Government and to reimburse themselves by selling our citizenship for US$100,000 and receiving the funds directly,” Chastanet said.
He said that the Government had not informed the population “about this new option, but there is already evidence that a particular developer has begun selling this option and, even more concerning, is the sub-par selling price of US$80,000”.
He said the OECS countries with CBI programmes have recently agreed to a common standard as recommended by the European Union, and that it is not only disappointing but extremely alarming that the Government seems incapable of understanding the far-reaching implications of its refusal to join this initiative using a pathetic excuse of a conflict with existing contractual commitments.
“The recommended and traditional practice that CBI applications are forwarded to the Regional Security institutions for independent vetting is now being disregarded,” Chastanet said, adding that “the consequent risks to the reputation of our program and to local and regional security are obvious to everyone but the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.
“The United Workers Party is warning this Government to stop their mismanagement and corrupt actions of the CBI program because the risks to our security and reputation are serious.
“Many St. Lucians have to struggle to get visas to travel for health, education, shopping and visiting friends and family. The online process for the US and Canada has made things much easier but this could now be at risk as well as the visa-free access to other countries that we currently enjoy.”
Chastanet warned that the fallout will likely result in further hardship to St Lucians by increasing the burden and cost of visa applications.
“It is time that the Government stops the reckless decision-making by irresponsible people seemingly incapable of understanding or indifferent to the devastating consequences we as a people will face,” he added.
and then 