The Leading Due Diligence firms collaborated with the PWM’s FT studio, where three of the firms had participated in a panel discussion on the topic “The Mechanics of Due Diligence, World in Crisis: Securing Citizenship by Investment,” joined by the Editor in Chief, the Financial Journalist at the FT’s PWM magazine named Yuri Bender.
The discussion related to the importance of due diligence in the citizenship by investment programme was held between the Chief Operating Officer of FACT global named, Eddy Leviten, The Director of Strategy and Development at EXIGER-Karen Kelly and Chief Executive Officer of S-RM Heyrick Bond Gunning.
The Director of Strategy and Development at EXIGER Karen Kelly also stated the importance of carrying out thorough checks on the applicants. According to her, a host country must do a thorough investigation into the investor to learn more about who they are and their history. She has over a decade of experience in due diligence & Citizenship & Residency by Investment.
Kelly explained that due diligence firms assist governments in verifying all applicants and scrutinizing their profiles, which include personal records, financial records, and criminal histories, by utilizing on-the-ground intelligence resources and questioning people who know the individual.
While differentiating the CBI programmes of different jurisdictions, Karan Kelly noted that some of the nations are actively involved in the due diligence process & raising queries about the new transformation.
She added that the CBI Programmes in the Caribbean push toward carrying out different levels of due diligence checks.
Discussing about Caribbean countries, Karen Kelly said, “It not only involves the third party due diligence agencies but also engages with the regional and international law enforcement, intelligence partners to gather information. They are also mandating immigration agents and marketing agents to carry out KYC- Know Your Customer, which is a significant step.”
She highlighted that the provider of the due diligence is not there to make the decision whether the person should be approved or not for the citizenship of the nation they are applying for.
The Chief Operating Officer of FACT mentioned that the due diligence agencies perform multi-layered checks on the applicants and also on their dependents over the age of 16.
Leviten has experience of more than 30 years in the creative industries, retail as well as enforcement.
Moreover, he highlighted that the main applicant, along with its dependents, will go through the same level of investigation no matter if they join later in the application.
Leviten mentioned in the statement, “We apply the same level of background checks on dependents as well. We also look at the relationship chart of not just the applicant or dependents but also on their associates, whether they are in a business or within the family.”
Along with this, he noted that due diligence firms cross-reference a variety of databases while outlining the multi-layered procedure.
“We check the records in the country of birth, marriages, and deaths of a family members, educational qualifications, employment, if there is any red flag, we quickly notify it the client.”
He further added, while referring to the strong due diligence process, “If you are a master criminal looking to avoid prosecution in a country, then this isn’t a route for you; there would be better ways for fraudsters to hide out their assets and move themselves around the world.”
According to him, some nations that provide citizenship through investment also utilize two due diligence organizations for cross-referencing. Because the due-diligence report has so much information on the individual, Leviten says it’s like reading a person’s life narrative after it’s completed.
As per the information shared by Leviten, every government recognizes that due diligence must meet the highest possible requirements. “We provide a report back to our clients; what the client does with the report is what determines if the applicant will be granted citizenship.” this means they give a report to their clients about what the client does with the report affects whether the applicant is given citizenship.
The CEO of SR-M, Heyrick Bond Gunning, mentioned while having the discussion over the common red flags that the major red flags occur when the person does not work in the sector from which they have obtained the major sources of wealth. He said, “There are a variety of issues that we see that we flag to our clients (host countries).”
Gunning has began his profession in the British Army, and he has also set up DHL’s operations in Iraq during the end of the Gulf War. At the time of the panel discussion, he shared some of his career experiences.
Apart from this, he mentioned that the stringency of the checks of the CBI application has been showing an upward trend over the previous few years.
The CEO of SR-M asserted, “Applicants also go through checks by the agents before being put through the unit, sometimes, there are double-checks by two companies, and then they are put through security services in the country and in a broader base as well. The ongoing monitoring is critical.”
Gunning highlighted that even with the challenges that have been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Caribbean countries have constantly remained committed to robust due diligence processes. He stated that the CBI units of the Caribbean countries have become more concentrated on their operation as well as how they are working on themselves to become more efficient.
Caribbean island countries make every effort to ensure that all applicants undergo a thorough due diligence procedure despite their small size. These countries promise the safety and security of their inhabitants, which will be their first priority. Moral commitments to the world community are also high on the priority list for Caribbean countries offering citizenship by investment programmes.
These countries’ due diligence is frequently thorough, strong, and meets all international criteria of safety and security. Third-party due diligence organizations, both regional and international entities concerned with crime detection, must check all supporting papers as part of the process. The openness of these programmes contributes to the CBI’s high standards.
