“Eastern Europe Has Considerable Potential For A New CIP”: Investment Migration People in the News This Week

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Investment migration people in the news this week included:

• Colin Bishop of Reef View Enterprises Ltd
• Jeremy Savory of Savory & Partners
• David Lesperance of Lesperance & Associates
• Kristin Surak
• Dr. Christian H. Kaelin of Henley & Partners
• Arton Capital
• Jane Kimemia of Optiva Capital Partners
• Varun Singh of XIPHIAS Immigration
• Jeff Fisher of CanadaCIS

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Forbes – Citizenship By Investment: How To Become A Global Citizen In 2024

Colin Bishop of Reef View Enterprises Ltd contributes an overview of citizenship by investment for Forbes:

The advantages of dual citizenship extend to tax optimization, with some CBI countries exclusively taxing income earned within their borders and exempting capital gains. This unique benefit empowers investors to manage their wealth with greater efficiency.

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Additionally, assess the political and economic stability of the potential host country. A stable political environment is crucial for long-term residency and business activities. Evaluate economic indicators, such as GDP growth and employment rates and consider factors like healthcare and education quality to align the chosen country with lifestyle preferences.

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Gulf News – Citizenship by investment: What to expect in 2024

Jeremey Savory, CEO of Savory & Partners, predicts the biggest investment migration changes to come in 2024 in an article for Gulf News:

In recent memory, 2023 was one of investment migration’s most dynamic years, as governments introduced new laws, price points, and operational procedures. This makes predicting what will happen in 2024 more complex, but I will share my thoughts on what the year holds in store for investment migration.

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Eastern Europe has considerable potential for a new CIP, and the demand will be there when it happens. Moldova saw massive demand when it opened, and Montenegro did garner interest at the end of its short-lived cycle. There was brief talk of North Macedonia, but thankfully, we trod carefully while others rushed in and got burnt.

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The Telegraph – What to do now to shield your money from Labour

“The question isn’t whether Labour will get in, but what they’re going to change when they do,” says David Lesperance, founder and head of international tax advice firm Lesperance & Associates.

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Mr Lesperance says his high net-worth non-dom clients are “fine-tuning their escape plans” in anticipation of a Labour government.

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CCN – As SEC Backs Do Kwon Trial Delay, What’s Next For Terra Founder?

Crypto legal expert, David Lesperance, previously provided insights into the complexities of the extradition process. Extradition is a legal procedure where one country formally requests the extradition of an individual from another.

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Lesperance highlighted that extradition is typically a lengthy process. It can, in some instances, be speeded up through direct agreements between governments. The process allows for appeals. Due to its often protracted nature, governments may seek alternative means to make it quicker.

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BBC Radio – Thinking Allowed: The Passport

THE PASSPORT [Podcast]: Laurie Taylor explores the cultural history of an indispensable document which has given citizens a license to travel and helped to define the modern world. Patrick Bixby, Professor of English at Arizona State University, delves into the evolution of the passport through the tales of historical figures, celebrities, artists, and writers, from Frederick Douglas to Hannah Arendt. How has the passport become both an instrument of personal freedom as well as a tool of government surveillance? They’re joined by Kristin Surak , Associate Professor of Political Sociology at the LSE and author of a new study which investigates the routes taken by wealthy elites in pursuit of a ‘golden passport’. Through six years of fieldwork on four continents, she discovered how the sale of passports has transformed into a full-blown citizenship industry that thrives on global inequalities.

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Yahoo! News – Four EU nations join Singapore, Japan for Most Powerful Passport status in 2024

Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and the creator of the index said, “The average number of destinations travellers can access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024. However, as we enter the new year, the top-ranked countries are now able to travel to a staggering 166 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the ranking with access to just 28 countries without a visa.”

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Business Insider – 6 countries have tied for the world’s most powerful passport — and the US isn’t one of them

UK-based consulting firm Henley & Partners first published the index in 2006. Passports are ranked based on the number of destinations they can access without a visa or e-visa, relying on data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 passports and considers the ease of access to 227 destinations.

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The strength of the US passport has declined in the past decade, peaking in 2006 and 2014 and ranking first on the index, data from the Henley Passport Index show. The US has ranked seventh since 2020 — the lowest it’s been ranked in the index’s history.

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Quartz – 2024’s most powerful passports ranked

Four European Union member countries — France, Germany, Italy, and Spain — have joined the two Asian countries in sharing the top spot for being able to travel to a country in 2024 without a visa, according to an annual ranking. The list compiled by the consultancy firm Henley & Partners uses data from the International Air Transport Association.

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Henley & Partners says its research shows there’s a strong correlation between economic performance, passport power, and countries that host investment migration programs, through which people can invest in residence or citizenship options.

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Forbes – These Powerful Passports Have Best Quality Of Life, Per New Data

The Henley Passport Index and Arton Capital’s Passport Index both measure, in different ways, the most powerful passports in the world—that is to say how many places we can freely visit with our passports without needing to apply in advance or organize a visa. The Global Citizen Index just released an index that cross-references these most powerful passports with their ability to offer the best quality of life, measuring political freedoms, the cost of living, sustainability and social well-being (the Quality of Life Index).

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This data chimes with Arton Capital’s recent Passport Index that also examines the most powerful passports with slightly different variables, measuring global mobility for different passport holders. This index ranks the UAE in top place, followed by most of the European countries, similar to Henley—Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands were in second place. The data was also in agreement with the Henley Index in that Asian countries saw some of the biggest gains in passport power. One of the biggest winners for Arton Capital in Europe was Albania, whose passport power grew notably because of the increase in tourism.

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The Guardian – ‘Diaspora investment critical to bridge FX supply gap, grow economy’

Jane Kimemia has over two decades of banking experience handling different roles in East Africa, Southern and West Africa. Now the Chief Executive Officer of Optiva Capital Partners Limited, she speaks with GEOFF IYATSE, about the impact of her company’s initiative that targets attracting $5 billion yearly into Nigeria through diaspora investment.

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On the modalities for implementation, first, we get Nigerians who seek to build homes to send their money so that we help them bridge the gap between trust and dishonest third parties. We help the diasporans to create an enabling environment that will ensure that they track the progress of their sundry investments. With DIDI, we shall help investors manage the risks associated with repatriation of funds back to the country for sundry investments ranging from property development and farms to cottage factories.

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There is also an initiative for women in the markets. Women are at the very end of the pyramid, so it’s about empowering them in terms of how they get better at their trade and how they get investments. In partnership with a Micro Finance Bank, we are helping them to formalise and structure their businesses so that they can get financing and scale up their businesses.

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Money Control – Australia halting ‘Golden Visa’ program to have minimal impact on Indians, say experts

Australia halting the Significant Investor or “Golden Visa” program will not have much impact on Indians, according to Varun Singh, MD of XIPHIAS Immigration.

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“Therefore, Indian investors need to obtain special permission from the RBI to transfer funds above the LRS limit, which is not easy to get. In fact, we got three rejections last year because the RBI did not approve the fund transfer for the Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNI) who wanted to get residency in Australia,” Singh said.

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The Financial Express – Want to get EU citizenship? Check out the hardest, easiest European country to become citizen

Jeff Fischer, Immigration Expert from CanadaCIS, says, “As well as having some of the strongest passports, Europe has among the highest quality of life indicators, including high career prospects, living conditions, and healthcare. Analysis reveals Central Europe is the most challenging region to get citizenship, with Northern and Western Europe the easiest.”