Comments on: Identity Malta’s due-diligence process is excellent – that’s why a Vietnamese MP and her entire family slipped through the net

By: Kevin J

Kevin J — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 17:24:00 +0000

100% of 0 is always 0.

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 18:27:00 +0000

Short-termism and greed. The more we sell, the more our GDP and ‘quality of life’ becomes dependent on their continued sales, which in turn is dependent on widening the list of candidates (read: lower the standards), which in turn drives away ever more legitimate businesses from respectable countries, which in turn means that we need to continue to look to “alternative” or “emerging” countries.

I remember a time (roughly 5 years ago) where Malta actively took a decision to avoid becoming the next Cyprus and turn away the Russian money flowing out of there, for obvious reasons. It was unusual to have Russian clients and considered to require a detailed risk assessment. Guess what, clearly those whispering in Muscat’s ear did not agree with that decision (“ghax flus flus, hux”). Today, just 5 years later we are awash with Russian money and no one bats an eyelid.

Henley had us figured out from the start, we truly are a nation of pimps, realtors and fixers.

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 16:30:00 +0000

Citizenship is so yesteryear. Mark my words, the fun is now with residency permits or the MRVP. The bulk of the “mistakes” (e.g. address theft and approving Chilean wanted criminals) were in fact happening at residency permit stage so all they did is commercialise it. Many of the benefits, at a lower price (even lower if you get a “special deal”) and with evidently less due diligence.

What must have been interesting is our local version of the Treaty of Versailles where Henley, Nexia BT and undoubtedly other interested parties sat around a table and divvied up the globe into regions where each could become an official concessionaire.