Henley & Partners, the international firm which conceived Malta's controversial cash-for-passports scheme, is turning ‘Trump fear’ into a new, golden opportunity to boost sales.
As tens of thousands of Americans took to the streets in many US cities to protest Donald Trump's election to the White House, the atmosphere across the pond was completely different at the Global Citizenship Conference, which was organised by Henley at the Savoy Hotel in London.
Speakers from the citizenship-by-investment promoters urged delegates to send the word to US citizens that they could buy an alternative passport not necessarily to live on the island but to acquire living rights in the EU and other countries associated with the bloc.
“Since the news [of Trump’s election] broke, there has been a significant increase in enquiries to the Henley & Partners website,” Eric Major, the firm's CEO told the conference, also addressed by Justice Minister Owen Bonnici.
Since the Trump election news broke, there has been a significant increase in enquiries
Mr Major said a growing number of wealthy individuals were looking to diversify their citizenship portfolios to give themselves and their families greater international opportunities, freedom and security: “The relatively new Maltese and Cyprus citizenship programme gives successful applicants the right to live and work in 32 European countries including the 28 EU member states.
“The investment is reasonable, given the privileges granted and the application process is quite efficient,” he added.
According to Mr Major, the same fear being experienced now by American electors was felt 12 years ago in 2004, when President George W. Bush was running for re-election. “We are seeing a comparable trend emerging now among wealthy Americans who wonder what the next four years will hold,” he said.
However, he pointed out, the situation was different now, thanks to the opportunity to buy alternative passports from Malta and other countries that have similar schemes, such as Cyprus and some Caribbean islands.
During the conference, Dr Bonnici, who is responsible for the passports scheme, said that until a few weeks ago, some €310 million had been poured into Maltese coffers from the sale of passports.
He emphasised that Malta's scheme was transparent and serious and scrutised by an independent regulator.
According to the controversial scheme, introduced in 2014, non-EU citizens can buy a Maltese passport for €650,000 and a five-year investment in property and bonds. The successful applicants can also acquire €25,000 passports for their dependents, including spouses, children and parents.
Henley & Partners president, Chris Kalin, told the Times of Malta that most of those acquiring Maltese citizenship hailed from the former Soviet republics and were mostly interested in the Maltese passport as a way to reside in the EU, mostly the UK.