Louis Grech and Edward Zammit Lewis are going to ‘participate’ in Miami too
Malta is a Gold Sponsor of the ‘passports conference’ in Miami next month, along with – talk about abysmal co-branding – St Kitts, a couple of real estate development companies, and a due-diligence firm.
Tragic.
It is not only the catastrophic co-branding and positioning that should be called into question here, but the timing. These conferences are planned down to the last detail months ahead. But Identity Malta has only just been set up, the draft bill on the Individual Investor Programme has only just been published (after first being leaked to this website and published here), and there hasn’t yet been any debate or vote in parliament, which means it isn’t law yet.
Yet somehow our government took all of that for granted and, without the legal structure being set up or the plans being discussed, made itself Gold Sponsor of a passports conference in Miami which is, this early in the day, already promoting the “exceptional participation” of Malta’s prime minister, Malta’s deputy prime minister, and Malta’s Edward Zammit Lewis.
As for the co-participation with St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua and Barbados, that’s insane because it puts Malta in the same suspect pigeonhole – a pigeonhole from which we struggled to escape for years and somehow managed to turn that negative image as a money-laundering tax haven for crooks (you know, these islands in the sun…Mediterranean, Caribbean, it’s all the same) into the precise opposite.
Barbados, St Kitts & Nevis and Antigua are roughly in the situation Malta was in just after Independence in 1964, with little to offer other than tourism and real estate. Malta has moved on in so many others ways, with a diversified economy, and is considered a real success story. I cannot imagine what they are thinking, seeing the Maltese government now aligning Malta beside their jurisdictions, competing for the world’s shadiest characters and their money, and literally cashing in on our EU membership to do it.
Malta the success story be damned. Apparently, being a success in the European Union is – according to our prime minister – “an economy stuck in prehistory”. So now it’s back down the reverse route, by the looks of it.
Do you want to know about St Kitts & Nevis and why Malta shouldn’t be co-branded with that jurisdiction?
St Kitts has a population of just 35,000. Nevis has a population of 12,000. The two islands – which are a single jurisdiction – have absolutely nothing to offer except their landscape. St Kitts & Nevis makes its money from tourism and from real estate development, and from selling passports.
Under its Citizenship Act of 1984, anyone who buys a flat or a house there for at least USD400,000, and passes “strict background checks”, gets a St Kitts & Nevis passport if they want it. You can see what the government of St Kitts & Nevis is doing there: keeping property developers ticking over by throwing in a free passport to help them sell their flats.
And do you know who devised that system for St Kitts & Nevis, and a similar one for Antigua? Henley & Partners, who are doing the same thing for Malta.
Basically, what you have at that conference in Miami is the participation of Henley & Partners and its key clients Malta, Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts & Nevis.
20 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
The US tax department (the IRS) is currently after anything related to ST. Kitts, Barbados, etc. Politicians and corporations are closing their accounts and taking out the money, in order not to be remotely associated and not to be selected for any IRS audit.
Fools rush in, and as expected the moron from Burmarrad is linking Malta’s name to these ‘red flags’. A country builds its reputation gradually and painfully and destroys it instantly. With John Dalli in the news for his Bahamas trips, a government consultant permanently debarred by the World Bank, and now this, the path to a downward spiral is almost automatic.
Those who depend on the financial services sector built up so painstakingly by successive PN governments, and who still voted Labour just to spite that same PN, will learn this lesson the hard way. Sadly, so will the rest of us.
No, the rest of us won’t learn anything new from this. We already know that Labour can’t be trusted.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20131019/local/pn-against-cash-for-citizenship-except-for-certain-circumstances.491030
What disturbs me is the Ministry’s “how could you?” reaction to the Opposition’s press conference. However, the Ministry for Home Affairs assures us that notwithstanding the Opposition’s negative attitude, they are still willing to continue discussing this issue. How generous.
The main contradiction that irks and worries me is this: the Ministry criticises the Opposition for holding a press conference where they express their views about this passport sale scheme since talks are still underway.
However, the government is already actively marketing this scheme even though these talks are still ongoing. So when should the Opposition sound its doubts? When the scheme is up and running and it is then too late?
One of the uglier aspects of all this is how even the newer generation of Labour politicians is comfortable around shady characters. There really is no hope.
Only the president of Malta can use the Maltese crest in colour, we are now bending basic rules too? What’s next?
I’m not liking this story one small bit. Arnold Cassola made a point on an interview on RTK. For a person to get married they need to stick up a notice on the billboard of the marriage registry, but total anonymity for these ‘new citizen’ holders. That’s equality for you.
Crooks, the whole lot.
I’m still waiting to see what Muscat meant for the ‘new republic’ which he mentioned in his mass meetings.
Credit must be duly given to Shiv Nair and to Henley & Partners for understanding at such an early stage that Joseph Muscat’s competencies and intentions are comparable to those of Banana republic politicians.
yeah . . . that was deep
“As for the co-participation with St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua and Barbados, that’s insane because it puts Malta in the same suspect pigeonhole – a pigeonhole from which we struggled to escape for years and somehow managed to turn that negative image as a money-laundering tax haven for crooks (you know, these islands in the sun…Mediterranean, Caribbean, it’s all the same) into the precise opposite.”
It cannot be more true. We struggled and were until recently still struggling to shed that image but then come these new money experts and in a blink our learned economics professor /Minister of Finance signs a double taxation agreement with Curacao.
Insane!
That is rather interesting – who is coming here who has interests in Curacao?
Meanwhile, the government continues to (try to) deceive. The sale of EU passports is misleadingly called an “investor programme”.
Since Malta is a ‘gold sponsor’ we probably paying Henley for featuring in their conference so that they can sell our passports and in turn make all the fees from that.
Henleys really have it all figured out (for themselves).
And didn’t Kalin say that that the Government’s policy is not to market the programme as they don’t want to come across as pawning passports. So much for that. What he meant obviously was that no one except Henley is to market the programme.
As for the PM, he is not even trying to show that he has any respect for the democratic process. At the very minimum the law should be passed before it is promoted. What an arrogant tosser. And dangerous too.
If Joseph Muscat thought he can lie and fool his closest family and loved ones, you can imagine how he gives a toss about everyone else.
While others complain about the ‘waste of space’ under your online opinion pieces, we just love your space because of its insightful, factually researched opinion on issues that really matter to our country. This is one example of the several you churn out every day.
You are THE Journalist par excellence, at least within the context of our media scene. I’m sure you’re read by those who hate your guts as much as those who value your opinion. No wonder this blog features among the Top 10.
Louis Grech and Edward Zammit Lewis? Why not Emanuel Mallia and Joe Vella Bonnici?
Simple answer, curious. It’s not the first time that Edward Zammit Lewis and his wife took a vacation abroad with Joseph and Michelle and Miami is a nice place to visit.
http://www.henleytrust.com
They don’t only advise on citizenship but provide trust services and tax planning too. So Kalin lied too when he tried to give comfort to local professionals that there is still some work they can do.
Ahleb Guz – your clients are just about to become Henley’s.
St Kitts & Nevis is an offshore jurisdiction and uses a model similar to the one the PN administration introduced and later discarded for the present structure. The change in Malta happened in the 1990s, as we prepared to join the European Union.
The Malta Financial Services Authority emerged from the Malta International Business Authority.
Malta harmonised its laws with those of the EU and to avoid being associated with jurisdictions that sell brass-plate companies, and the consequent flak on money-laundering, tax evasion, etc. The change tightened the laws and placed greater burdens on investors and Malta’s reputation changed incomparably for the better.
The Nationalist administration of the 90s and people like Professor J V Bannister were instrumental in this respect. Indeed the present financial services industry legislation and structure evolved from and is strong because of these efforts.
Oh, and another thing, has the Malta Financial Services Authority not said anything about this?
I am sure it is going to be a nice trip for half the Cabinet, their wives, hanger-ons, with Mama Michelle taking the twins, lady in waiting, babysitter and all to the Orlando family parks – all at our expense.
The cherry on the cake would really be if Muscat etc. got paid personally to deliver talks at these events.
“St Kitts & Nevis makes its money from tourism and from real estate development, and from selling passports.”
gosh they’re nothing like the Central Mediterranean hub of commerce, industry and leading edge research not to mention academia that we are; for 8 months now the truth in the dictum that people (and country) get the government they deserve rings so true.
[Daphne – Tim, Malta makes its money from a hell of a lot more than tourism and the sale of flats to foreigners. If we were still at that stage, we would need mass emigration programmes by now. But yes, I agree with you about the last bit.]