Misuse of Citizenship and Residency by Investment Programmes
Citizenship and residency by investment (CBI/RBI) programmes are government-administered
programmes that grant citizenship or residency to foreign investors by expediting
or bypassing normal migration processes. These programmes can help spur economic growth
through foreign direct investment, but they are also attractive to criminals and corrupt
officials seeking to evade justice and launder the proceeds of crime reaching into
the billions of dollars.
This report highlights how CBI programmes can allow criminals more global mobility
and help them hide their identity and criminal activities behind shell companies in
other jurisdictions. It highlights the vulnerabilities of these complex and international
investment migration programmes, including the frequent use of intermediaries, involvement
of multiple government agencies, abuse by professional enablers and lack of proper
governance of the CBI/RBI programmes. The report proposes measures and examples of
good practice, that can help policy makers and those responsible for managing the
investment migration programmes address these risks. These include an in-depth analysis
and understanding of how criminals can exploit CBI or RBI programmes and incorporating
risk mitigation measures, such as multi-layer due diligence, in the design of the
investment migration programme.
"Criminal exploitation of citizenship and residency programmes is a multi-billion-dollar business to launder the proceeds of fraud and corruption, evade justice, or access third countries. Our joint FATF-OECD work identifies the risks and vulnerabilities around golden visa schemes and offers a series of important mitigation measures to help policy makers and programme operators include appropriate due diligence, transparency, and integrity mechanisms."
- Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary General
"Granting citizenship and residency to wealthy investors through 'golden' passport and visa programmes can potentially lead to economic growth. But they can and are being exploited by criminals and the corrupt, who want to launder their money hide their identity and assets, or carry out further crimes. This report calls on governments operating these programmes to implement a variety of safeguards to ensure these programmes are administered in a risk-sensitive way."