“From Scandal to Scandal”: Investment Migration People in the News This Week
Investment migration people in the news this week include:
- Bernard Sacks of Mazars Cape Town
- Nadia Read Thaele of LIO Global
- Armand Arton of Arton Capital
- Juerg Steffen of Henley & Partners
- Inês Azevedo of Azevedo Legal
- Vince Lalonde of Pace Law Firm
- Arthur Sarkisian of Astons
- Sam Bayat of Bayat Legal Services
- Clint Khan of Y-Axis
- Syed Jafar Sadiq of Cosmos Immigration
- Preeya Malik of Step Global
- Dr. Sadir Al Kherdaji of Al Kherdaji International Legal Consultants
- Vrinda Gupta of Vazir Group
- Tony Ebraheem of 111 Immigration
- Mahdi Mohammed of Guide Consultants
- Anwar Karim of WWICS
- David Lesperance of Lesperance & Associates
- Bastien Trelcat of Harvey Law Group
- Jane Gordon of CS Global
Bloomberg: South African High Earners’ Exodus May Limit Room for Tax Hikes
For every high-net worth person who emigrates, an average of 1.2 million rand in income taxes disappears from the system and the spending, value-added tax and economic activity they generate is also lost, said Bernard Sacks, a partner at Mazars LLP in Cape Town.
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High-income South Africans are finding homes abroad through residency and citizenship programs. A family of four must donate $200,000 or invest $320,000, including administration fees, in a government approved real-estate project to qualify to become citizens in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada, which is very popular at the moment, said Nadia Read Thaele, founder and managing director of LIO Global, a residency and citizenship consultancy.
Nikkei Asian Review: How COVID is hastening the exodus of India’s gilded class
In July 2020, Henley & Partners, a London-based agency that helps to relocate high net worth individuals — people with a net worth of at least $1 million — opened an office in Mumbai, India.
Coming as it did in the midst of the COVID pandemic, when the Indian economy was in deep crisis due to the virus and the harsh lockdown that followed, Henley’s decision was in response to a surge in interest from Indian HNWIs looking to leave the country. Indeed, between 2019 and 2020, Henley saw a growth of 61% in clients from India expressing interest in their services.
Forbes: Inside The Race To Create A Covid Passport And Change Travel As We Know It
Armand Arton has long prophesied the death of the passport in the form of a paper booklet we carry around with us. But its demise is likely to come sooner, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, he says, as the race to create the first global vaccine passport gets underway.
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“My prediction is that over the next 20 years, we will see more innovation and transformation of the passport as a document than ever before,” says Arton. His firm, Arton Capital, advises families and individuals around the world on citizenship and global mobility.
Observador: SEF, para que vos quero? (SEF, what do I want you for?)
Prominent Portuguese immigration lawyer Inês Azevedo pens an op-ed for one of Portugal’s biggest dailies in which she delivers sharp criticisms of the country’s borders and immigration service, the SEF, for its lack of vision and inability to adapt to changing circumstances. To wit:
In the telenovela that became the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), the Government continues to jump from scandal to scandal, like a hippopotamus leaping lightly from water lily to water lily without finding firm ground on which to land. But we dare, for a few moments, to stop the hippo to understand how we can walk beyond the swamp where the SEF is located.
It only gets better from there. Read on.
Forbes: Renewal Of The EB-5 Program Could Spark Economic Recovery In America
In an article recently published, Vince Lalonde, the current Director of Immigration at Pace Law Firm in Toronto (full disclosure – I also practice immigration law there), laid out the history of the Canadian investor program and what went wrong there. Lalonde pointed out that under the Canadian program foreign nationals with a net worth of at least $1.6 million could get permanent residence in Canada if they made a five year interest free loan of $800,000 to the federal government. But, as Lalonde laid out, the program proved unpopular with the Canadian public because the idea of “buying” permanent residence was unappealing to Canadians.
International Adviser: Montenegro tops golden visa hotspot list
Arthur Sarkisian, managing director at Astons, said: “The availability of real estate plays a huge role in the decision-making process when investing in citizenship or residency, not just commercially but also from a residential standpoint.
“This is largely due to the fact that it’s often a decision made for the benefit of the whole family rather than the individual, and so a family home is an essential part of the process when laying strong foundations in their chosen location.
Gulf News interviews the representatives of nine different MENA-based investment migration firms on a range of topics related to residence and citizenship by investment:
- Sam Bayat of Bayat Legal Services
- Clint Khan of Y-Axis
- Syed Jafar Sadiq of Cosmos Immigration
- Preeya Malik of Step Global
- Dr. Sadir Al Kherdaji of Al Kherdaji International Legal Consultants
- Vrinda Gupta of Vazir Group
- Tony Ebraheem of 111 Immigration
- Mahdi Mohammed of Guide Consultants
- Anwar Karim of WWICS
Daily Express: He said: “I take Covid very seriously, but it’s not Armageddon.
Indeed, tax adviser David Lesperance told Express.co.uk that the royals — like everywhere else — will recover from the pandemic in time.
“There will be a new normal.”
He continued: “They know that, this too, shall pass.
“And then — probably a year away — there will be a year where people will want to do all sorts of travel.”
Speaking back in December, Mr Lesperance explained: “If I were handling their finances, I would think, ‘Your revenues are going to come back, at some point in the future’.”
Middle East Eye: UAE to grant citizenship to select professional expats in rare Gulf policy
The UAE’s passport has been ranked as the most powerful in the world, according to an online index that measures passports on their ability to provide visa-free travel.
UAE passport holders can enter 167 countries without obtaining a visa prior to arrival, according to Passport Index, a list created by a Montreal-based financial advisory firm Arton Capital.
BusinessTech: Further evidence that South Africans are trying to get their money out the country
Global citizenship and residence advisory firm, Henley & Partners meanwhile, highlighted a steady growth in investment migration locally as a result of increased volatility driven by Covid-19.
The group’s South Africa office recorded a 48% increase in the number of enquiries about Citizenship-by-Investment programmes between the first and third quarter of 2020.
“Many are taking stock and ensuring they are better prepared for the next pandemic or major global disruption. The relentless volatility in terms of both wealth and lifestyle has resulted in a significant shift in how alternative residence and citizenship are perceived by high-net-worth investors around the world,” said says Henley & Partners CEO Dr. Juerg Steffen.
BusinessTech: Popular destinations for South Africans emigrating through investment
To help prospective migrants get a better handle on their options, Bastien Trelcat, managing partner of Harvey Law Group (HLG), talks through the top 7 factors you need to know about investment migration.
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Trelcat concludes, “Due to the complexities of dealing with a foreign government, certain legislative requirements must be met. It is the task of the service provider such as HLG, to be transparent and to discuss the appropriate migration strategy related to the investment, elaborate on the tax exposure, if any, and submit the application on time.
BusinessTech: A growing number of South Africans are considering their options outside of the country
CS Global Partners’ Jane Gordon, who is based in South Africa, said on a citizenship by investment podcast that when it comes to investing in a second citizenship, South Africans want a lifestyle they are already comfortable with.
“I think South Africans, in particular, want more options, and they want more opportunities. They are really looking to become more globally mobile, which is sometimes hard being based in South Africa.
“South African entrepreneurs especially have a desire to be seen as a bit more competitive, especially on a global scale in terms of business. They are usually very creative so being able to travel more easily for inspiration as well,” said Gordon.
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.