Controversial “Golden Passport” (or visa) schemes are back under the highlight as one leading London firm opens up at the “big growth” in demand for its services.
Luke Hexter, managing director of Knightsbridge Capital Partners, advised Forbes that their European Passport program used a 70% yr-on-yr increase at the company. This comes after Knightsbridge was embroiled in a Sunday Times and Channel Four research that located firms brokering U.K. Funding visas and European passports for foreign billionaires and millionaires had boasted of being capable of steering clear of authorities exams and safeguards for their customers.
Knightsbridge currently sells passports from Cyprus, which could provide overseas traders and their families the right to tour visa-loose to 163 international locations and return for a $2.2 million (€2 million) investment in local assets or price range. The island has raked in $7.Four billion (€6.6 billion) from selling passports, but the scheme has also attracted the European Commission and OECD’s ire. OECD’smic boom and political instability in emerging markets created the demand for, therefore-referred to as, Golden Passport funding applications, according to Hexter. “If you b”ught a few billion–a variety of these clients could have citizenship in a single u. S. A ., passports in some other and residency elsewhere to mitigate the threat,” says Hexter.
“Nigeria” is a prime ins”ance of a country where several humans are quickly getting very wealthytical instability; they still love their usa … they nonetheless want a contingency plan in location,” he added. Nigeria is presently ranked by the camp”ign group Transparency International as one of the international’s most corrupt international locations, international’sllions from its oil fields looted via its political and army elite.
Hexter struck a protective tone on whether or not the Golden Passport enterprise and his company helped criminals flee justice and disguise their sick-gotten profits. The enterprise can “get a bit of flack for pandering to positive unscrup”lous high-net-well-worth people,” but the accusation is “as a long way away from the fact as can be fe”sible.”
Knightsbridge” Capital, he says, “would not contact” what he describes as “a politically uncovered “dividual or someone”e wherein there’s even”a query that their wealth could have been obtained there” He provides his firm’s patron tests (KYC) are “stringent,” and th” EU’s due diligenfirm’s”very, very strict.”
Con” rovers
However, theEU’sitizens using inve”tment schemes are”not as benign for those preventing global corruption because the London corporations involved would have you ever agreed.
Ben Cowdock, senior studies officer at Transparency International, challenges whether British and European money laundering and history exams are powerful in identifying corrupt business leaders and politicians.
