DON'T EXPECT OBJECTIVE TRUTH IN MIGRATION INVESTMENT MEDIA; THERE'S FAR TOO MUCH CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Compliance officers at the world's largest international banks, where affluent new potential clients from abroad are most likely to offer as proof of identity a passport from a country other than the one where they were born, look at the unfolding scandal involving Caribbean passports obtained through economic citizenship or Citizenship by Investment programs, and have many questions to answer regarding risk. They have seen articles about transnational criminals using second passports to commit financial crime, and they look for information so that they can better determine whether their new bank client is merely someone whose has a need for visa-free travel, or is a dangerous career criminal.

For that reason, compliance officers access all the possible sources of information available to them on the Internet. My advice to them is to steer clear of the glossy online magazines that refer to themselves as part of a huge second passport sales industry that incorrectly refers to itself as "Migration Investment," where conflict of interest trumps accurate and truthful information. The industry that they are reporting on financially supports, and through that support, enables such publications to not only exist, but thrive; don't expect objectivity from them, as they overtly shill for their financial masters.

There is very little actual migration in the passport sales business; it's all about visa-free access of you are a legitimate individual, or concealing your true identity if you are a career criminal, sanctions evader, terrorist financier, or corrupt Politically Exposed Person (PEP). Acquiring, and using, a second passport, while offering certain benefits for the user, also carries with it a number of actual and potential dangers, none of which are disclosed in migration investment media, whose commission sales agents do not really want you to know the whole truth about the legal dangers that the use of certain second passports exposes the holders to. Therefore, those glossy, well-edited and profusely illustrated online magazines will tell you how these new passports will be your smartest purchase, but conveniently leave out all the things that might happen to you, if an individual chooses to acquire one.

There's not enough room on this article to discuss the risks which comes with second passports from certain jurisdictions, and which compliance officers must be aware of, when they assess risks at account opening. I have written a number of articles on the subject, which are readily available. The bottom line is, for compliance, if you are looking for accurate information about second passports, you will need find it at objective information sources, and not where deceptive, and often intentionally selective, information is masquerading as truth. Compliance officers, find your answers elsewhere, and not in "migration industry" media.