EUROPEAN UNION LEADERS ARE CLOSELY WATCHING THE CBI CIRCUS UNFOLDING IN THE EAST CARIBBEAN, AND THEY ARE NOT PLEASED

While most government leaders in the Caribbean are at this time on alert, due to the fact that a hurricane is afoot in the neighborhood, those who command the five countries that offer Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) passport sales schemes would do well to monitor the reactions and opinions coming from the European Union, as the future viability of their programs, which basically exist by virtue of their Schengen visa-free privileges, could be in danger.

Remember, EU Visa representatives met with the Five back in January, 2024, and the "consultations" resulted in the issuance, on March 20, of the much-cited Memorandum of Agreement. Then, at the eleventh hour before the July 1 Effective Date, two of the jurisdictions ( Antigua and St. Lucia) advised that they required an additional 30 days to enact relevant legislation, while their passport vendors desperately advertised for new clients, hawking the "$150,000 savings" they would receive.

Add to this the new controversy over the allegations of illegality, corruption, and money laundering through American banks, appearing in the new RICO litigation, MSR MEDIA SKN LTD. vs. KAHN (Case No.: 24cv01248 (MD FL-KKM), which has resulted in a groundswell of demands for transparency from the leaders of St. Kitts and St. Lucia, and which has not been forthcoming.

Remember, the European Commission is presently engaged in a suit against the Republic of Malta, at the European Court of Justice, to terminate Malta's IIM (CBI) program. Malta is the sole remaining EU Member state to sell passports, and the EU wants it to cease and desist, for multiple reasons, most of which are applicable to the Caribbean programs.

Therefore, the East Caribbean CBI states might want to consider how their present policies are playing in Brussels, and whether their visa-free programs are on borrowed time there.