This new law is expected to be enacted in September 2025 by all five member countries.
The new legislation will culminate in an intense and historic period of engagement and cooperation on these Programmes, which are so vital to the fiscal, financial stability and resilience of these member countries.
The economic importance of these Programmes to participating countries cannot be overstated.
It has been accepted that dismantling these Programmes would severely compromise the prospects and prosperity of these countries, triggering a plethora of negative social consequences.
The CBI/CIP countries have strongly affirmed their commitment to a collective fight to safeguard their respective financial systems against threats from illicit finance flows from money laundering, fraud, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
Some of the key provisions of the enabling legislation for the CBI/CIP regulator include:
- Establishment and funding of the regional CBI/CIP regulator. The key objectives of the regulator are to help enhance the transparency, security and sustainability of these vital Programmes. The regulator will issue binding standards on all CBI/CIP Units (CIUs) and all licensees involved with these Programmes.
- Strong enforcement mechanisms for compliance. The regulator will be empowered in law to hold CIUs and licensees to account and will publish annual reports on compliance.
- Collection of biometrics for all new applicants. Biometrics will be collected at the time of the interview, which is part of the application process. This provision is intended to enhance the security of these Programmes by further strengthening the vetting process of all applications.
- Residency requirement for all approved applicants. This provision will strengthen the link between new citizens and their countries of citizenship and will allow for verification of biometrics collected during the application process. Moreover, it will generate a direct boost to tourism in our countries and will create other economic opportunities for our member countries.
- Financial support for CARICOM IMPACS/JRCC. This will strengthen the Joint Regional Communications Centre’s (JRCC’s) capacity (personnel and technology) to continue to provide vetting of all applicants via a central portal. The JRCC plays a central role in the vetting process for all applicants under the CBI/CPI Programmes. No applicant is approved without clearance from the JRCC.
The work leading to the crafting of this new law has been led by an Interim Regulatory Commission (IRC) with membership from all five CBI/CIP countries, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission, CARICOM IMPACS/JRCC and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). Ms. Lydia Elliott serves as the Legal Drafting Consultant. The work of the IRC has been overseen by the five Heads of Government of Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis and Saint Lucia.