3rd US-Caribbean Roundtable: Caribbean region soon to appoint Interim Regulatory Commission

Grenada: At the 3rd US-Caribbean Roundtable, the regional countries with citizenship by investment programmes said they will be soon announcing the interim Regulatory Commission. The Regulatory Commission will be tasked with establishing the regional regulator. 

As agreed in the MOA signed earlier in March this year, the Regulatory Commission will set standards, regulate and supervise the CBI Programmes. If necessary, the commission will also take corrective actions.  

The US delegation appreciated the progress made by the Caribbean CBI jurisdictions in establishing an independent regional regulator to set standards and take corrective actions while regulating and supervising the Programmes.   

The productive roundtable discussion was held in Grenada which brought together the five Eastern Caribbean countries offering CBI programme and the United States Department of the Treasury.  

The significant meeting took place on August 29, 2024, and focused on discussing the status of implementation of the six CBI principles. 

The recent roundtable meeting, held in Grenada was co-chaired by the U.S. Treasury Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Warren Ryan and Governor Antoine.  

This was the 3rd US-Caribbean Roundtable held on Citizenship by Investment with the delegation discussing the overall progress made and challenges remaining to address the very important six CBI principles which were introduced in February 2023 by Caribbean Heads of Government.  

Representatives from CBI Countries and Regional Organisations 

During the meeting, the island nations were represented by delegations which comprised of the Chairs, technical staff and Chief Executive Officers from their CBI units. The delegations included representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia. 

The meeting was also attended by representatives from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, led by Governor Timothy N.J. Antoine, and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States Commission, led by Director General Dr. Didacus Jules. 

The 6 CBI Principles are as follows 

1. Collective Agreement on the treatment of denials  
2. Interviews  
3. Additional Checks  
4. Audits  
5. Retrieval of Revoked Passports  
6. Treatment of Russians and Belarusians  

The delegations at the meeting acknowledged the fact that the region is making complete efforts to bring all the principles in effect at the earliest.  

Focus on Implementing 6 CBI Principles 

According to the information, this 3rd roundtable meeting was very significant as it discussed the 6 principles and their overall progress. The 1st meeting of this kind was held in St Kitts and Nevis in February 2023 while the second took place in October 2023 in Miami.  

The principles agreed to by Caribbean Heads of Government are aimed at strengthening the governance of the CBI programmes while curbing money laundering as well as terrorist financing risks in all these island nations. 

During the roundtable, it was announced that the countries have agreed on collective treatment of denials and have also started to execute those denials on a bilateral basis as they work towards a more sustainable as well as effective coordinated mechanism to share and coordinate on denials via CARICOM’s Joint Regional Communications Centre. 

It was further noted that all CBI countries have worked together to fully and continuously exercise four of the six stated principles. These are as follows: 

1. Collective Agreement on the treatment of denials: This principle states that the CBI units will not process applications from individuals whose applications have been denied in any of the 5 Caribbean CBI jurisdictions.  
2. Interviews: This principle calls for mandatory interviews of each applicant before the processing of his application. 
3. Additional Checks: The CBI units are also required to run checks on each applicant with the Financial Intelligence Unit of the relevant nation.  
4. Treatment of Russians and Belarusians: This means that all CBI jurisdictions must suspend processing applications from Russians and Belarusians. 

While the Citizenship by Investment countries have already put in place these four principles, they are now working every day to fully implement the remaining two principles as well. 

These concentrated efforts by CBI offering Caribbean islands aligns perfectly with regional initiatives stated in the Memorandum of Agreement which has now been signed by all the CBI countries. 

Also, the decision to appoint the Interim Regulatory Commission to establish the regional regulator is as envisioned in the MOA and was welcomed by the US delegation. All these major steps showcase that the CBI nations remain dedicated and committed to collectively uplifting the risk management and mitigation for the programmes and are also appreciative of the continuous support by the United States Treasury for their ongoing efforts.