BREAKING: Cyprus to Terminate Citizenship by Investment Program on Nov 1st
Cypriot authorities announced earlier today that they would terminate the country’s very popular and highly successful citizenship by investment program following a video report published yesterday by Al Jazeera in which House President Syllouris, Akel MP Christakis Giovanis, and several others appear to have indicated their willingness to assist a Chinese businessman with a clearly questionable profile.
The program, according to a government spokesman who made a statement following an emergency cabinet meeting today, will close on November 1st. The spokesman added that the decision was based on a proposal from Interior Minister Nicos Nouris and Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides and that the establishment of a new CIP would be examined upon the completion of the ongoing review.
The Office of President Nicos Anastasiades today tweeted the following (translated with Google): “The Council of Ministers approved the proposal of the Ministers of Finance and Interior for the abolition of this investment program from 1/11/20. The proposal was based on the timeless weaknesses but also on the abusive exploitation of the provisions of the program.”
IMI will be back with more as the story develops.
Christian Henrik Nesheim is the founder and editor of Investment Migration Insider, the #1 magazine – online or offline – for residency and citizenship by investment. He is an internationally recognized expert, speaker, documentary producer, and writer on the subject of investment migration, whose work is cited in the Economist, Bloomberg, Fortune, Forbes, Newsweek, and Business Insider. Norwegian by birth, Christian has spent the last 16 years in the United States, China, Spain, and Portugal.