Henley & Partners has offered assurances that it will not process applications under the citizenship-for-sale scheme until regulations come into force obliging the government to make public the names of new citizens.
“It has been publicly stated that all successful applicants – including the pilot cases – will have their name published upon being granted citizenship by investment,” said Daniela Bugeja, manager of Henley & Partners, which won a public call for tenders to market and administer much of the programme.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech insisted no one would be granted citizenship by donation until the law was changed so that their identities would be made public.
Amendments to the Citizenship Act to allow the sale of citizenship for €650,000 through an Individual Investor Programme were signed into law by the President last week after being voted through Parliament.
The amendments included the removal of clause 25, which stated that the names of all newly naturalised citizens had to be published in the Government Gazette every three months.
But on Friday, the Government bowed to public, political and international pressure and announced it would publish names of those who gain citizenship through the IIP after all.
However, the government is technically under no obligation to do so as yet, fuelling concerns that the initial pilot cases would be rushed through in secret.
But Ms Bugeja said these fears were unfounded, as only “framework legislation” had been approved so far.
“The actual details of how the IIP will work will be spelled out in the regulations. The regulations will contain a new provision to the effect that the minister will publish the names of the successful applicants.
“We will start receiving and processing applications only when the regulations are issued by the government,” Ms Bugeja said.
A government spokesman confirmed that the names would be published in the Government Gazette and that the processing would start only once the regulations are in force. Henley and the government expect to create up to 50 new citizens in the pilot phase, which is scheduled to end by April.
But, after that, Henley CEO Eric Major forecast that as many as 200-300 applicants could be interested. The company confirmed it had originally advised the government to keep the identity of citizens naturalised under the scheme secret.
This was “to respect the applicants’ privacy, acknowledging their highly respectable profile in their home country,” Ms Bugeja said. “Such applicants might quite naturally shy away if it became common knowledge that they were seeking global citizenship.”
A conference promoting global residence and citizenship programmes will get underway in Miami tomorrow, with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in attendance.
Dr Muscat will deliver a keynote address at the conference on Friday, following which guests are invited to a “coffee break with the Prime Minister of Malta”.
Citizenship scheme controversy on Times Talk
The controversial Individual Investors’ Programme scheme will be the topic of discussion in today’s edition of TimesTalk on TVM.
National Security Minister Manuel Mallia, Opposition spokesman for Home Affairs Jason Azzopardi and Alternattiva Demokratika deputy chairman Carmel Cacopardo will debate the issue, described as shameful by some and forward looking by others.