BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, NOVEMBER 15TH, 2017 (PRESS SEC) – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Program – the platinum brand in the industry – focuses on offering more than passports, Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris said yesterday, Tuesday, November 14th, 2017, in the National Assembly.
“For us in the Team Unity administration, it is more than passports,” the Honourable Prime Minister said, adding that his Government strives, through the Citizenship by Investment Program, to “build the country and find avenues in a challenging world, to have appropriate, legitimate foreign investment coming into the country to assist us with our nation-building tasks.”
Dr. Harris added that, to this end, “we really do want a discerning investor to be part of the socio-economic landscape of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
The Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis made these remarks in the Honourable House of Assembly yesterday against the backdrop of the passage of the Saint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship (CBI Escrow Accounts) Bill that afternoon. When the CBI Escrow Accounts Act becomes operational, it will provide guidelines relating to escrow accounts and agreements under the Citizenship by Investment Program.
The Bill lays out conditions and procedures for the Financial Services Regulatory Commission’s “suspension, revocation or refusal of licence” for escrow agents, as well as record-keeping requirements. For instance, “an escrow agent shall submit reports or any underlying documents relating to escrow business to the Financial Services Regulatory Commission on a monthly and annual basis.”
This is in keeping with the Government’s thrust to maintain and protect the reputation of the platinum standard Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Program of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“As we look to the future, our challenge will be how can we better utilize what has now become a large diasporic community of persons who have become investors via the economic citizenship route,” Prime Minister Harris said, while noting that, “We have to therefore look at the range of support services we provide to them.”
On that note, the Honourable Prime Minister then commended the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and added that, “…next year, we will launch a diasporic conference, which will focus on all of our citizens including those who would have become citizens through the investor program.”
Dr. Harris went on to say that the diasporic conference would allow participants to gain “a better acquaintance with their country” and also help the Government to facilitate conversations with them concerning opportunities for further investment in St. Kitts and Nevis.