The government has rejected a suggestion made by the regulator of the citizenship scheme that it might be better to stop publishing the names of all naturalised Maltese persons, including those buying their passport.
The government yesterday said the current rules would stay in place, while Opposition leader Simon Busuttil is also against the idea. On the other hand, the concessionaire of the Individual Investor Programme, Henley and Partners, is in favour.
In his annual report, tabled in Parliament two days ago, regulator Godwin Grima raised concerns that the publication of the names was possibly making applicants “shy away”.
While saying he was not advocating discarding a long-standing tradition that went back 50 years, he said that this matter should at least be debated.
One solution could be to provide personal data on a “need basis” to the IIP Monitoring Committee, Mr Grima said. However, a spokesman from the Prime Minister’s Office poured cold water on the suggestion. “Government believes that the situation should be kept as is, and publication continue as per rules,” he said.
Rolled out last year, the IIP stoked controversy partly due to the government’s original plan to keep all beneficiary names secret. The government bowed to pressure, including from Brussels, and removed the clause. It also introduced a minimum 12-month residency period.
However, Dr Busuttil said yesterday that the government had not kept its word on these two promises. “The IIP regulations are not being observed, as we do not have a definite list of the successful applicants, for the simple reason that these are being intermixed with the list of all people who acquired Maltese citizenship,” he said.
The list of successful applicants is mixed with that of all new citizens
The regulator’s job was not to make suggestions on amendments to the law but to ensure that the existing regulations were being observed, he added. “In this respect, the 12-month residency clause is not being observed and the regulator’s job is to explain the reason for this.”
In his report the regulator justifies his concern, saying there are reports of the measure posing “a potential safety threat” to the applicant and dependents.
This argument was swept aside by the Opposition leader. “If someone is afraid of disclosing his identity, then my suggestion is that it would be better not to become a Maltese citizen at all, as this could pose a threat to national security.”
Henley & Partners managing director Stuart Macfeeters backed the regulator, saying there could be “genuine” reasons to protect the privacy of beneficiaries. “If names are published, this could bring the programme under attack by individuals who try to undermine it and this could deter potential clients from applying,” he said.
“I think that best practice would be not to publish the names for the privacy of the individuals applying.” However, he said all clients were made fully aware in advance that their names would be published. “If needed, names could be given to other government officials but not made public,” Mr Macfeeters said.
Ann Bugeja from CSB Group said the legal requirement to publish the names of persons who acquire Maltese citizenship through naturalisation and registration stemmed from the Maltese Citizenship Act of 1965. “The potential of interested applicants ‘shying away’ from applying means that one must tread very carefully,” she cautioned. Dr Bugeja called for the establishment of a forum to bring regulatory bodies together and share good practice.
In this respect, the government spokes-man noted that changes were in the pipeline to widen the scope of the regulator to cover all the operations of Identity Malta, the entity that deals with citizenship and ID cards, in line with changes to the sector. He said it was a sector that had been neglected by the previous administration.
Profile of the applicants
Data published by the regulator suggests that the typical applicant is probably a self-employed middle-aged married person hailing from a former Soviet Republic, with a tertiary degree.
During the period under review (July 2014 to June 2015
• 137 applicants acquired Maltese citizenship;
• Just 11 applications out of a total 245 received were rejected;
• 75 letters of approval (meaning the successful completion of the IIP process by applicants and their family members) were issued.
Their breakdown is as follows:
| Geographical region | Number | Percentage of total |
| Europe* | 45 | 55 % |
| North America | 13 | 15.9% |
| Asia | 7 | 8.5% |
| Middle East | 12 | 14.6% |
| Gulf Region | 2 | 2.4% |
| Africa | 2 | 2.4% |
| South America | 1 | 1.2% |
*Including the former Soviet Republics
Note: The total differs from the 75 letters of approval, as some candidates might have more than one nationality.
• Nine of every 10 main applicants (69 of 75) were men.
• The 75 main letters of approval also included 51 spouses, 81 dependants under 18 years, and 34 adult dependants over 18.
• The majority of them (52 per cent) were in the 45-64 age group, followed by those 25-44 (43 per cent).
• 52 per cent were self-employed, while 36 per cent were in employment, highlighting the significant number of applicants who had reached retirement age.
• Three of every four successful applicants (77.3 per cent) had a tertiary qualification at Bachelor’s level. 17.3 per cent had a Master’s degree and 14.7 per cent a doctorate.
• Two of every three main applicants included their spouses.
Was it worth it so far?
• Eight properties have been purchased at a total cost of €6.3 million, which equates to €787,000 per property – twice the minimum value of the property that has to be acquired by the applicants (€350,000). Most of them were in Sliema (62.5 per cent), followed by one property each in Mellieħa, St Julian’s and St Paul’s Bay.
• Four out of every five applicants opted to lease residential premises, totalling 36. Their combined value of €4.3 million equates to an annual lease of €119,000 each, which is well above the minimum threshold of €16,000.
Total funds received from IIP applications by Identity Malta after deposits to government accounts and deduction of expenses:
• Up to June 30, 2014 – €1 million;
• Between July 2014 and June 2015 – €44.7 million
• The global value of all IIP input from property purchases, rent, investments and contributions equated to approximately 1 per cent of GDP.