Such measures are signs of how certain jurisdictions operating these programmes have been under pressure to tighten enforcement.

The government of St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean has set up a unit to maintain continued due diligence checks on its citizenship-by-investment programme, or “golden visas.”

The Continuing International Due Diligence (CIDD) Unit will be based in Brussels in Belgium, the jurisdiction said in a statement yesterday. 

The unit will work with anti-money laundering agencies, international law enforcement and anti-terrorist financing agencies if St Kitts and Nevis citizens are being probed for such matters. The unit will also retrieve passports that are cancelled under law.

Such measures are signs of how certain jurisdictions operating these programmes have been under pressure to tighten enforcement. In recent years, these schemes have been attacked – for example, by the European Parliament – for creating gaps creating opportunities for money launderers and other crooks. Industry groups such as the Investment Migration Council have rejected these criticisms. (This news service interviewed the IMC more than a year ago to ask about trends in the sector.)

The Caribbean jurisdiction said it is “making sure that there would also be strict security measures to protect ourselves and to protect our international partners,” Prime Minister and Minister responsible for Citizenship and Immigration, the Honourable Dr Terrance Drew, said.    

His Excellency Ian Queeley, former Commissioner of the Royal St Christopher and Nevis Police Force and current Ambassador for the Eastern Caribbean States to the Kingdom of Morocco, will head the unit. The organisation will go operational by 31 July.

See here for another article on these programmes.