CARICOM leaders launch passionate defence of CBI Programmes

Having come under fire from the European Union and others for supposedly opening the doors to tax avoidance and providing undeserved access to corrupt individuals, leaders from the Caribbean nations that run the Programme have in recent days launched passionate defences of the Programme and made sure to highlight the strength of their security processes.

Speaking to WIC News, the Honourable Mark Brantley, Foreign Affairs Minister of the Team Unity Government gave a passionate defence of St.Kitts and Nevis’s due diligence process.

“I will go on record to say that there is absolutely no Programme – none – Citizenship by Investment Programme in the world or residency Programme in the world, including the European Union and others, that has as robust a due diligence process as St. Kitts and Nevis. We put people through hell – literally – who come here. I think that is what St.Kitts and Nevis has done remarkably well, we have revamped our Programme in the last several years and we’ve gone after this.”

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Antigua and Barbuda’s Programme has also come under fire, perhaps most notably in the case of Mehul Choksi, the billionaire diamond salesman accused of fraud in India but who acquired an Antigua and Barbuda citizenship through the Programme.

The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Mr Gaston Browne did not hold back in his defence of his due country’s due diligence in this case. “Let me make it abundantly clear that there was no failure in due diligence. The reality is, there was nothing in the public domain about Mr.Choksi at the time. In fact, it is several months after he became a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda that information became public that he was wanted in India. The Indian authorities gave a clean report about Mr Choksi so there was absolutely no failure in due diligence.”

He also went on to say that all investments in Antigua and Barbuda have been legitimate and developments have been carried out in the proper way at an acceptable pace. Asked whether there were any incomplete or precarious-looking developments in Antigua and Barbuda, PM Browne was quick to say “[W]e have none. We make sure that the proceeds that come in from investment go into the escrow and that they are invested in the actual projects to ensure that investors get the best value for money. We make no compromises whatsoever on that. We are absolutely gung-ho to ensure that those proceeds that are invested go to the projects where they are intended.”

PM Browne did suggest that CARICOM countries needed to do something to reenergise faith in their Programmes. “I am of the view, however, that across the Caribbean there ought to be some harmonisation of the various Programmes.” These should “include our due diligence policies to ensure that we utilise the same agencies and ensure too that in the defence steps in the due diligence process that there is no opportunity to … let’s say violate – I’m not saying anyone is violating or they’ve missed steps.”

“I feel too that there should even be a reflection of laws in countries, to ensure that it is mandatory, that the due diligence process itself is enshrined in law. So for example, there are about three days of due diligence that takes place, minimum each Programme, I think those should remain as the absolute minimum and there should be harmonisation across the Caribbean region to make sure these cannot change.”

PM Browne has long been an advocate of such harmonisation but it has not yet come about. Asked whether he thinks it is any likelier now given the external scrutiny of the Programmes in the Caribbean, he said “I think it’s imperative. We’ll have to (harmonise). The reality is, the Programmes have been under intense scrutiny, there has been a lot of misinformation in the public domain about these Programmes and the best way to mitigate against the misperceptions is to ensure that we have a due diligence process that can stand up to proberty and be completely transparent about it to make sure that at the end of the day, the international community will have the confidence that we have the capacity to deliver the necessary due diligence and that there is absolutely no intervention that will lead to mis-steps or oversights.”

At the press conference following the CARICOM meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis last week, Dr Timothy Harris went on the offensive against the EU and pointed out that the “goalposts keep shifting” as when one problem is addressed, the EU returns with a “second and a third”. He referred to the paradox of the OECD rating of “largely compliant” being given to CARICOM Members yet CARICOM Member states receiving criticism from the EU for not complying with them as “capricious and irregular”.

Like Irwin Larocque did on the opening day, Dr Harris took a strong stand against EU blacklisting and urged them to stop the practice. “We question the jurisdiction of the EU to take those kind of punitive measures and so we have signalled that we find it unacceptable.”

Just how seriously the EU takes these statements is unclear but the strength of these statements is a clear indication that CARICOM countries are not going to take orders lying down. As was the case with the stance on Venezuela, CARICOM is making the right noises towards becoming a solid international presence.