IMC’s Investment Migration Certification Program Gaining Momentum

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In June this year, the Investment Migration Council premiered an industry first: a certification program for industry practitioners – current and prospective – aimed at instilling high ethical standards and subject matter competence among professionals.

Scandals and instances of malpractice in the industry surface at regular intervals, and practitioners who take a cavalier approach to business harm the entire market’s public perception. Even in instances where no tangible malfeasance is documented, investigative reporters tend to frame RCBI-businesses in unflattering ways by making the most out of initially meager raw material. The IMC hopes the promulgation of best practices through its course will serve to reduce such cases in the future.

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Some 50 students are currently enrolled in the course – officially, IMCET – of whom three have already completed the coursework and passed their exams to obtain “professional” status memberships with the IMC. Feedback so far, according to the organization itself, has been largely positive.

“The students are enjoying the course material and they believe that it will help them in the way they do business within this industry,” says Marie Lou Cutajar, the IMC’s Education and Training Administrator, who describes the course as “a ground-breaking initiative designed to prepare participants for work in a new and vibrant industry where high professional standards, values, and enhanced competencies are required.”

Jusztina Rebeka Juhasz, who has completed the course and obtained her certification, highlights the program’s focus on due diligence and EU regulations as integral to its usefulness. “It includes the key learning elements that people simply are not picking up anywhere else,” she comments.

Roleece Brooks, another graduate, believes IMCET should be mandatory for residence and citizenship by investment professionals.

“The use of examples and case studies were very helpful in grasping the material,” she says, and describes IMCET as “quite detailed, especially given the addition of essential and further reading”.

The coursework, which consists of five modules, generally takes 25-30 hours to complete, upon the completion of which students are assessed by a two-hour exam of 100 multiple-choice questions.

“The course is designed in a way that enables you to study at a time and in a format that works for your lifestyle, as it can be accessed through an application on mobile phone or tablet,” explains the IMC’s administrator. “There is no specific start date for the course, as whoever enrolls in the course will have access to their unique user account where all course material will be available for them at any time,” she adds, also pointing out that government agencies are now enrolling their staff.

Watch a brief IMCET introduction video below.