Author: Contributor

The history of the Caribbean is one of the interchanges of global peoples. In today’s post-2020 landscape, its stronghold of citizenship by investment can lead that story into a new era of globalisation based on choice and the free movement of capital. Yet, in order to keep not only these programmes afloat but also keep the region poised to lead, I believe it is more essential than ever for the Caribbean to remain the neutral trade winds of the world. This means being the safe haven for everyone, not just the few; not just Western interests, nor just Eastern, nor…

by Shanna ChallengerOffshore Islands Conservation Programme CoordinatorEnvironmental Awareness Group It’s not easy to get people to fall in love with snakes. For many of us, our first introduction to snakes was in the Bible, where they are portrayed as loathsome creatures known for their crafty and dishonest ways. With this fear interwoven into the fabric of our culture, how can one then convince people to transform this innate fear into unconditional love? That’s exactly what the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) and our partners were tasked with to save the world’s rarest snake from extinction. We’ve all heard the saying, “Christopher…

OPINION by Armand Arton, Founder & President, Arton Capital Many have cast doubts about the future of citizenship by investment programmes in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But increased oversight in Europe signals a promising new era for the industry. BlackRock Chief Larry Fink made headlines last month when he warned of a monumental shift in global economics, supply chains, currencies and climate change goals in his annual letter to shareholders on 24th March. In summary, he wrote that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered punishing Western sanctions that “put an end to the globalisation we have experienced over…

OPINION by Kenneth Green, Managing Partner, Advance Global Partners That is often the mantra of those of us in the islands when people come to visit. Many of them envy us, living the dream on these small idyllic paradises, seemingly with no worries and lifestyles that are magazine healthy. The reality is anything but. Declining tax revenues, high educational and health subsidies by the Eastern Caribbean countries, and high migration of the very human resources who have been subsidised create a cycle where governments are constantly on the backfoot, a situation compounded by frequent external shocks. Maintaining a decent standard…

OPINION by Ahmad Abbas, Director of Content Services, at Investment Migration Insider One good thing about global catastrophes is that they breed progress. Humans, when adequately motivated, can produce marvels. As the pandemic tore through the fabric of the world, medical professionals kicked into high gear, progressing the science of vaccine production by decades. Supply chain management also evolved the sum of years in a matter of months. It was the still waters of investment migration, however, that remained relatively quiet. Or so it seemed. Caribbean nations stepped it up, making remote processing simple, online payments a reality, while Antigua…

OPINION by David Lesperance JD, Founder and Principal, Lesperance & Associates High-net-worth (HNW) individuals around the world live in very turbulent times and live their lives in the equivalent of a wildfire zone. This is why so many are looking for the “fire insurance” of a second passport. However, what few appreciate is the speed at which their worlds can change forever. Events, dear boy, events The late British prime minister, Harold Macmillan, when asked why most long-term plans went astray, famously replied, “Events, dear boy, events”. Now just imagine the impact of the following events on a HNW individual…

OPINION by Dominic Volek, Managing Partner, Member of the Executive Committee and Group Head Sales, Henley & Partners For many of us, January 2020 commenced with a sense of promise – not just of a new month or a year, but a new decade. Fast-forward to September and the world has been turned upside down, violently shaken, and given the reality check of a lifetime. The warning signs may have been ignored for decades, but the coronavirus pandemic has now confronted us directly with our own fragility, our precariousness, but perhaps most of all, our utter unpreparedness. Looking the other…

OPINION by Ahmad Abbas, Business Development Professional of Reach Immigration The premise of citizenship was cultivated many a millennium ago. To be a citizen is a term that has been defined time and time again throughout history. It was Ancient Rome however, that truly defined citizenship. The Republic broke it down to a plethora of divisions; with the rights granted varying depending on the division or tier of citizenship a certain person possessed. The term Civitas, which means citizenship in Ancient Rome, was a coveted one. No other status in the world held as much grandeur as a Roman Citizen.…

OPINION by Dr. Christian H. Kälin, Chairman of Henley & Partners Back in the mid-1980s, when modern investment migration was in its infancy, the overwhelmingly positive benefits of residence- and citizenship-by-investment programs for the nations that host them were not yet widely appreciated. However, beginning with St. Kitts & Nevis in the Caribbean, sovereign states demonstrated that offering citizenship benefits to high-net-worth investors could quickly transform the fortunes of overleveraged economies. These days, it is globally acknowledged that investment migration programs offer profound benefits to both investors and host nations. Going from strength to strength One of the industry’s unique…

OPINION by Armand Arton, Founder & President, Arton Capital The past year’s hurricane season in the Caribbean exhibited some empathy following the catastrophic trail of storms in 2017. Documented as one of the strongest hurricanes ever observed in the Atlantic, Hurricane Irma hardly left a tree or building standing in Barbuda, and a few weeks later, Hurricane Maria followed suit, devastating the island of Dominica. The severity of the hurricane’s impact was recorded and streamed live on Facebook by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit. “We do not know what is happening outside,” Skerrit posted on the social media site. “We not…