The Office of the Prime Minister refused to confirm whether the cash-for-citizenship scheme will change to include residency and property ownership conditions.
The conditions were mentioned by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna in Brussels on Thursday when answering MEP questions on the Individual Investor Programme.
When asked to confirm whether the government was considering the conditions in talks with the Opposition, an OPM spokesman said the discussions were still under way.
“No details can be confirmed or denied at this crucial stage,” the spokesman said, adding the Finance Minister was “not specific” about the scheme regulations.
Addressing the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels, Prof. Scicluna hinted at a thorough overhaul of the scheme.
Among other things, Prof. Scicluna said the government would be introducing an annual capping of the amount of passports it would be issuing under the scheme – about 50 a year – and that those buying into the scheme would need to have a stronger bond with the island.
He said foreigners would have to reside in Malta for some time and ideally own some property here.
When asked about this, the OPM spokesman insisted the capping mentioned by Prof. Scicluna was just an example. “It cannot be taken as nothing more than that.”
On the other conditions, the spokesman said Prof. Scicluna’s comments showed the government had listened to people’s concerns and was “taking them into account” during talks with the Opposition.
Asked about the minister’s admission that the scheme was introduced with haste and was “a mistake”, the spokesman said the Prime Minister had already said that things could have been handled better.
The scheme has already been enacted into law but the legal notice that puts it into affect was withheld amid widespread criticism, both in Malta and internationally.
The Nationalist Party is against the sale of Maltese citizenship and has threatened to withdraw passports obtained through the scheme when in government.
If this is removed it is not going to make a very big difference
Henley & Partners, the company entrusted with managing the scheme, yesterday said it was not aware of the changes the government intended to introduce.
A company spokeswoman said they were not involved in the negotiations between the government and the Opposition.
Asked by Times of Malta for a reaction to Prof. Scicluna’s comments, the spokeswoman said the company was adopting a “wait and see” approach.
She admitted that Henley & Partners was never made aware of the changes announced by Prof. Scicluna. “It’s completely up to the government to decide on the rules underpinning the citizenship programme. However, we are not aware of any changes yet.”
Asked whether the company was in favour of drastic changes to the scheme, the spokeswoman said the viability of the programme would have to be evaluated once the firm was made aware of the changes.
She confirmed that it was Henley that proposed the secrecy clause so that the names of the new ‘Maltese’ citizens would be kept under wraps.
“This was our advice because, judging by our international experience, this would have made the scheme a bigger success. However, if this is removed it is not going to make a very big difference.” The government has already backtracked on this condition, saying it was not a necessity.
The PN yesterday formally complained that the national broadcaster did not report Prof. Scicluna’s intervention at the European Parliament. Accusing PBS of doing so to avoid embarrassing the Labour government, the party asked the station to rectify the situation.