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Why due diligence is central to Malta's citizenship by investment agency | European CEO - YouTube
Channel: EuropeanCEOVideos
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European CEO: Founded in 2014, Malta's Individual
Investor Programme was the first to be recognised
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by the EU, creating a convenient and efficient
route to European citizenship for international investors.
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Since 2018 the programme has been administered
by the Malta Individual Investor Programme
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Agency; its CEO, Jonathan Cardona, joins me
now.
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Tell me more about Malta's Individual Investor
Programme; what does it offer to investors
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and to Malta?
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Jonathan Cardona: So, Malta's a small island,
with limited resources.
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And the idea of the government was to attract
as much as possible, new talent, entrepreneurs,
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who can bring new investment and foreign direct
investment on the island.
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The main thrust of what Malta can offer: it's
a European jurisdiction, ultimately.
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It's a very safe, stable, growing economy.
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And it can be easily considered as a second
home for many people who are seeking to have
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a second base for their family.
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To Malta it has offered a number of benefits.
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The programme is based on a contribution,
so there's direct cash input into our economy.
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Apart from that, there's economic activity
generated by the individuals who come, because
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they need to purchase property, they need
local services, healthcare, education.
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Over and above that, a number of these individuals
over time have invested on the island.
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And I think that's the best part of the whole
programme: seeing real investment which before
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was not there.
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European CEO: Citizenship by investment has
become very competitive in recent years; how
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has Malta's programme evolved?
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Jonathan Cardona: Our work is two-pronged.
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First we have to promote the programme, so,
we need to ensure that it is on the map of
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the people who are seeking a second citizenship
out there.
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But by far the bulk is risk assessment and
due diligence.
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We need to ensure that we take the right approach,
make the proper analysis of the individuals
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who are coming over, and take a decision on
that.
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Due diligence has become, I think, the most
crucial part of our programme.
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We have implemented a four tier system:
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The first step is that we go to the police
authorities, which in turn they go to their
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international counterparts, to ensure that
the persons are who they say they are, and
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that there are no international issues with
them.
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Secondly, we check the application for correctness
and completeness.
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So there are internal checks to ensure that
all the documents tally; the story actually
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builds up.
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Then the third one is, we have a number of
service providers which help us bring information
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from proprietary databases, from intelligence
on the ground.
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And the fourth tier is, when we collect all
that information with in-house intelligence,
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we build the picture of the family which has
applied.
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And on that we build a discussion.
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After four years we've built a lot of experience.
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We have modified and fine-tuned and implemented
new procedures to ensure the right checks
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and balances within our system.
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It's not a foolproof system, because risk
analysis is a mix between art and science.
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At the end we have quite a few rejections
as well; so we do reject between 20 and 25
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percent of the people who apply.
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But I think that is the strength of our programme.
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European CEO: And what does the future hold
for the citizenship by investment industry;
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and for Malta's programme in particular?
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Jonathan Cardona: I think the most important
thing – and something that Malta has been
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really advocating for – is more collaboration
between the different jurisdictions that have
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these programmes.
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All of us do due diligence, all of us have
checks, all of us identify the rotten apple.
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And I think what is important for the sustainability
and strength of these programmes is that they
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share this information.
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In a secure and a legal way – but I think
that's important.
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Having said that, I think that the market
is growing.
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Globally more people are becoming rich.
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More people need mobility.
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And it's becoming more mainstream ultimately.
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So, the numbers are growing – both from
the supply side and the demand side.
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It's just ensuring that good governance is
there – something that Malta continues to
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promote, and that the right regulations, the
right approach, should be established.
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European CEO: Jonathan, thank you very much.
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Jonathan Cardona: Thank you.
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Thanks for watching.
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Learn more at iip.gov.mt.
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