A European Parliament report calling for citizenship schemes to be "phased out as soon as possible" did not understand the investment migration industry, Henley and Partners has lamented.
The European Parliament Special Committee on Financial Crimes and Tax Evasion on Wednesday noted Malta’s cash-for-passports scheme could “potentially pose” high-risks.
It referred to an analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development found the scheme could potentially offer a back-door to tax evaders and money-launderers.
But Henley and Partners - the government’s concessionaire for the scheme- hit back, saying there was a "clear demarcation" between any citizenship or residence-based investment schemes and an individual’s tax status.
"To combine and conflate these two fundamentally separate areas is perplexing and demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of the key issues at play,” the organization said. “We do not believe that investment migration should be included in a report that is focused on tax-related issues," it added.
Henley also argued that the authors of the report had not engaged "in any meaningful way with specialists in the industry".
The firm said it was willing to engage with stakeholders but there was “current inexplicable silence from multiple EU institutions”.
“They have neither contacted the industry association, the Investment Migration Council (IMC), nor any of the leading specialist practitioners, including Henley & Partners, the largest professional firm in the sector,” it said.
Stressing the firm had no influence over the government’s due diligence process, Henley said “it has always been the responsibility of governments to manage the necessary investigation and due diligence process into each individual applicant.”
The organisation said it understood there may be fears and concerns regarding governance and due diligence.
“This is why Henley & Partners is committed to the IMC’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, and to the highest possible standards of corporate governance and due diligence,” it said. “Likewise, governments advised by our firm have implemented or are implementing the highest standards of due diligence in their application processes,” it added.