CBI Officials from OECS Meet with US Treasury Department Team in Grenada

Chief Executive Officer of the Citizenship by Investment Unit, Charmaine Donovan was among officials from the five Eastern Caribbean countries that offer Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programmes who met recently in Grenada with a team from the United States Department of the Treasury.

She was among the OECS CBI representatives who held a productive Roundtable to discuss the status of implementing the Six CBI Principles.

The CBI countries were represented by delegations comprising the Chairs, Chief Executive Officers and technical staff from the CBI Programmes.

Also represented were delegations from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank led by Governor Timothy N.J. Antoine and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Commission led by Director General Dr. Didacus Jules.

Governor Antoine and U.S. Treasury Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Warren Ryan co-chaired the Roundtable.

This was the third US-Caribbean Roundtable on CBI and the delegations discussed progress made and challenges remaining to address the Six CBI Principles agreed to by Caribbean Heads of Government in February 2023.

The first was held in St. Kitts and Nevis in February 2023 and the second was held in Miami in October 2023.

The Principles are geared toward strengthening the governance of the CBI Programmes and mitigating money laundering and terrorist financing risks.

The parties at the third US-Caribbean Roundtable acknowledged the concerted regional efforts toward full implementation of the Principles. Of note, all CBI countries have worked to fully and continuously implement the following four Principles:

The CBI countries are assiduously progressing towards fully implementing the remaining two Principles (Audits and Retrieval of Revoked Passports).

These efforts progress in parallel with other regional initiatives outlined in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) of March 2024, now signed by all the CBI countries.

The United States delegation welcomed progress by the region in establishing an independent regional regulator, as envisioned in the MOA, to set standards, regulate and supervise the Programmes and, if necessary, take corrective actions.