Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Consultancy |
Founded | 1997 |
Headquarters | |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Services | Residence-by-investment, Citizenship-by-investment and Real estate advisory |
Henley & Partners is a British investment migration consultancy based in London. The company offers services to individuals and consults governments on residence and citizenship programs. [2] In some cases, the company even runs the programs on behalf of governments. [3] The company has pioneered the industry of selling citizenship and passports. [4] [5] [6]
It has been criticised for its core business model, which detractors believe to threaten the fight against cross-border corruption and crime. [7] Henley's immigrant investor programs in Malta and in St. Kitts and Nevis have stirred controversy. [6] [4]
Led by Christian Kälin, the firm is, as of 2020, the world's largest investment migration consultancy. [2] Henley & Partners publishes rankings and reports on global mobility, investment and wealth migration trends including the Henley Passport Index and the Quality of Nationality Index. [8] [9]
Originally founded in the 1970s, Henley & Partners was re-formed in 1997 through the combination of a private client immigration consultancy and a corporate and family services company. In the late 1990s and through the 2000s, the firm advised wealthy businesspeople and individuals move their businesses and families around the world, largely through the acquisition of residence and citizenship from Austria, Canada, Hong Kong, US, Switzerland, and St. Kitts and Nevis. [10] [11] [12] Early on, the company's focus was on advising wealthy people how they could lower their taxes by acquiring residence in countries such as Switzerland. [5]
In 2006, the firm partnered with St. Kitts and Nevis, trailblazing sales of citizenship and passports. [5] The firm restructured St. Kitts and Nevis's citizenship-by-investment program, incorporating donations to support the country's transition to tourism and services following the closure of the sugar industry in 2005. [13] Following the restructuring of the St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship program, Henley & Partners began to aggressively promote the new scheme. Henley organized large-scale conferences where it promoted its services and connected buyers of passports to sellers. [5]
The company has advised the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and Cyprus on how to develop their own investment migration programs, [14] and has since that time worked for and been mandated by several other governments. [15] [16] [17] [18] In 2012, Reuters wrote that Henley & Partners is “at the center of the citizenship by investment movement”. [19] In 2017, the Government of Thailand appointed Henley & Partners to handle the international marketing of the country's residence program. [20]
As part of its services, Henley provides domestic public relations services to governments that enter into passport sales programs, helping government parties to deal with opposition parties. [3] Henley has also lobbied at the EU level. [3]
In 2006, the firm restructured St. Kitts and Nevis's citizenship-by-investment program, and obtained exclusive rights to market St. Kitts & Nevis worldwide. [6] The company gave the country's government a $20,000 fee for every successful applicant for its passport program. [6] Applicants for passports could either invest $400,000 in real state on the islands or donate $250,000 to the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation (SIDF), a bank-owned investment vehicle set up in 2006 to invest on behalf of the St. Kitts and Nevis population. [6] [5] The St. Kitts and Nevis government outsourced its escrow services and application processing to Henley, as well as paid the company to promote the country's program internationally. [5] The country gave the company "a wide range of powers and discretion." [21] Henley was paid a 10% commission ($25,000) for every donation to the SIDF. [5]
The contract between Henley & Partners and St. Kitts and Nevis ended in 2013. [6] The same year, the company set up a similar program in neighboring country Antigua and Barbuda. [21] The firm reportedly earned $250 million from its contract with St. Kitts and Nevis. [5] The company also earned professional fees that it charged clients applying for citizenship; the fee for each file could exceed $100,000. [5] According to London School of Economics Professor Kristin Surak, the precise dynamics between Henley and St. Kitts and Nevis are murky, as "there are virtually no accessible records of the negotiations, and those involved in the development of the program offer few details when asked." [21]
The program was lucrative for St. Kitts and Nevis. [5] According to a 2015 report by the International Monetary Fund, the program helped St. Kitts and Nevis get out of a four-year recession, along with "supporting economic recovery, improving macroeconomic balances and boosting bank liquidity." It also contributed to 13 percent of the country's GDP and generated 40 percent of government revenue. [22] [23] [24]
In May 2014, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a warning that St. Kitts and Nevis had granted passports to foreign individuals who had abused the Citizenship-by-Investment program sponsored "for the purpose of engaging in illicit financial activity." [25] In November 2014, Canada announced it was requiring St. Kitts and Nevis citizens to obtain a visa from 22 November 2014, due to concerns about “identity management practices within its Citizenship by Investment program.” [26] Following the announcement, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis initiated a recall on all biometric passports issued between January 2012 and July 2014, and replaced them with new passports which showed the holder's place of birth as well as any previous name changes. [27] Canada subsequently reinstated visa-free travel by air for eligible St. Kitts and Nevis citizens. [28]
Observers have had persistent concerns about the lack of transparency about SIDF, which was set up by Henley & Partners. The IMF said in 2014 that the SIDF needs to make "substantial improvement in its reporting to enhance the transparency of its operations." [6] The U.S. State Department said in 2017 that there was a "lack of financial oversight" of the SIDF. [6] Transparency International said it was unclear whether the SIDF used its money to benefit the St. Kitts and Nevis population. [6]
It was later revealed that some of the SIDF's investments had failed. SIDF invested a part of its money into a failed resort business and a company owned by a Henley associate with ties to chairman Christian Kälin. [6] In 2017, the St Kitts and Nevis government stopped allowing passport applicants to pay into the SIDF. [6]
According to 2022 reporting by the OCCRP, there is evidence that Henley CEO Christian Kälin helped to finance the successful 2010 re-election campaign of Denzil Douglas, the St. Kitts and Nevis prime minister. [29] At the same time, Henley entered into at least three agreements with the SCL Group or its affiliated companies to help each other in the Caribbean region. [29] Henley has denied financing the Douglas campaign. However, Douglas stated in an unpublished 2018 interview that Henley did fund his campaign and that the SCL Group was hired to manage the campaign. Henley responded by calling Douglas a liar. [29]
In 2013, Henley & Partners participated in a public tender and won the right to design and globally promote Malta's citizenship-by-investment program, the Malta Individual Investor Programme (IIP), which raised over $1 billion within 18 months of its launch. [30] However, the public tender was not competitive. [31] Arton Capital, a competing firm, filed a judicial protest, appealing the decision to award the contract to its competitor, claiming that Henley & Partners provided consultation to the government on a similar program before. [32] Arton Capital settled out of court in 2015. [33]
The citizenship-by-investment program and the relationship between Henley and the Malta government was criticized at the time. [31] Critics in Malta argued that the concessions to Henley were overly lucrative and may have entailed conflicts of interest. [31] Henley received 4% of each donation, which meant €26,000 per application for citizenship. [31] In the first two years of the program, Henley earned €14 million from 564 applications. [34]
The program provides citizenship to foreign individuals and their families who are believed to contribute to the country's economic development. The country later introduced more stringent conditions for acquiring citizenship, such as proof of residence in Malta for at least 12 months. [35] The launch of the IIP in 2014 drew criticism from opposition officials, who claimed the program could open a back door into Europe for criminals. [36] It was reported at the time that officials believed the screening process would be compromised because Malta had outsourced the vetting of citizenship applicants to a single company. [36]
In May 2017, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia accused Kälin and other Maltese politicians of collusion to sue her, opposition MP Jason Azzopardi and three media houses over their coverage. She published leaked email exchanges between Kälin, Malta prime minister Joseph Muscat, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and IIP CEO Jonathan Cardona planning threats of financially ruinous SLAPP lawsuits in UK courts, which is known to have friendly libel laws. In September 2020, her son, journalist Matthew Caruana Galizia, gave a Maltese court of inquiry her notes, call logs, and the leaked emails. [37] [38] [39]
In May 2018, English PEN released a public statement about concerns around the libels cases, from senior government officials of Malta and Henley & Partners, faced by Caruana Galizia’s family and The Shift News, an independent media outlet. [40] [41] The company representatives told a European Parliament delegation that was investigating the rule of law in Malta, "The point of the email was to ask the government if they would be ok with a legal action H&P was planning to take (which can have political repercussions). [42]
In 2021, thousands of the firm's emails and documents were leaked. [4] It revealed how some applicants to the Maltese scheme claimed to be resident of the country by renting apartments but leaving them unoccupied. [4] In an undercover video shot as part of the coverage following the leaks, an employee of the firm advised prospective applicants to only "do the bare minimum" in satisfying the scheme's criteria. [43] The documents also showed that Henley & Partners knew of government's plans to launch a citizenship-by-investment programme two months before the public tender for a company to operate it was announced. [44] As the European Union had clashed with the Maltese government over the programme before, [45] [46] the leaks were seen as strengthening the EU's case against it. [46] [47]
Jho Low, a businessman involved in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal and international fugitive, was believed to be a client of Henley & Partners. Media reported that Low obtained a Cypriot passport by investing €5 million in a transaction facilitated by the firm. [48] [49] [50] Henley & Partners denied these allegations, asserting that Low was never a client and was specifically rejected as such in 2015. [51] Leaked documents in 2021 revealed that Henley referred Low to a third-party agency in Cyprus. Henley received €710,000 indirectly as a result of a subsequent real estate transaction involving Low. [52] [53]
In 2012, Henley & Partners designed Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship-by-Investment Programme (CIP) under a government mandate. [54]
Henley & Partners publishes books and reports. [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] The company publishes indices that enable potential clients to choose where to apply for passports, as well as glossy magazines that advertise the company's services. [3] Publications include the Henley Passport Index, the Quality of Nationality Index, [8] the Henley Residence Index, the Henley Citizenship Index, the Henley Wealth Migration Dashboard, [60] the Africa Wealth Report, [61] the Global Mobility Report, the Global Citizens Report and the Best Investment Migration Real Estate Index. [62] [63] [64]
Since 2006, [73] the company hosts an annual Global Citizenship Conference. [74] [75] [76] [77] The firm is a 2014 founding member of the Investment Migration Council, a non-profit association for investor immigration and citizenship-by-investment. [78]
Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles. With 261 square kilometres (101 sq mi) of territory, and roughly 50,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere, in both area and population, as well as the world's smallest sovereign federation. The country is a Commonwealth realm, with Charles III as King and head of state.
Denzil Llewellyn Douglas is a Saint Kittitian and Nevisian politician and the longest-serving prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, in office from 1995 to 2015. He was the leader of the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) from 1989 to 2021. He was the leader of the parliamentary opposition from 1989 to 1995 and from 2015 to 2022.
Immigration law includes the national statutes, regulations, and legal precedents governing immigration into and deportation from a country. Strictly speaking, it is distinct from other matters such as naturalization and citizenship, although they are sometimes conflated. Countries frequently maintain laws that regulate both the rights of entry and exit as well as internal rights, such as the duration of stay, freedom of movement, and the right to participate in commerce or government.
The Maltese passport is a passport that is issued to citizens of Malta. Every Maltese citizen is also a Commonwealth citizen and citizen of the European Union. The passport, along with the national identity card, allows for free rights of movement and residence in all member states of the European Economic Area, as well as Switzerland.
Cypriot passports are issued to citizens of Cyprus. Every Cypriot citizen is also a Commonwealth citizen and a citizen of the European Union. The Cypriot passport, along with the Cypriot identity card, allows for free right of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union, European Economic Area, and Switzerland. As of July 2023, Cypriot citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 179 countries and territories, ranking the Cypriot passport 12th in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index. Cypriot citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty. The Republic of Cyprus was formed in 1960. All persons who were citizens of the Republic of Cyprus at this time are entitled to renew their citizenship and passport, whether living on the island or abroad within the diaspora. Their descendants, whether living on the island or abroad, are equally entitled to obtain Cypriot citizenship and passport. These citizens include the Greek and Turkish people, as well as the much smaller communities of Jewish and Armenian heritage.
The Haitian passport is issued to citizens of Haiti for international travel.
A Uruguayan passport is an identity document issued to Uruguayan citizens to travel outside Uruguay. For traveling in Mercosur countries, as well as Chile and Bolivia, Uruguayan citizens may use their ID card.. For naturalised legal citizens, the nationality of origin will still apply as Uruguayan nationality law currently doesn't give nationality to naturalised citizens, which may mean a visa may still required when travelling. This challenge appears to arise from a literal interpretation from the ICAO 9303 part 3 manual, which in its Spanish translation, uses the word nationality rather than the original English version which refers to citizenship in the case of the country code that applies in the machine readable zone. Paragraph 7.1 of ICAO 9303 part 3 notes that an error to avoid is "MRZ citizenship incorrectly reports the country of birth rather than citizenship.". Uruguay's national identity authority uses country of birth in lieu of nationality for naturalised citizens, leading to error responses on migratory and airline legal identity checks.
The CARICOM passport is a passport document issued by the 15 member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for their citizens. It can be used both for intra-regional and international travel. The passport was created to facilitate intra-region travel; however, citizens of the OECS that are citizens from Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines may use a member-state issued drivers licence, national identification card, voters registration card or social security card for travel within the OECS area.
Commonwealth of Dominica (Dominican) passports are issued to citizens of Dominica for international travel. The passport is a CARICOM passport as Dominica is a member of the Caribbean Community. The Dominican government began issuing biometric passports to its citizens on 19 July 2021, having spent $13 million upgrading its passport system to improve national security across its borders.
The Saint Kitts and Nevis passport is issued to citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis for international travel. Prior to 1983, Saint Kitts and Nevis, together with Anguilla, was an associated state of the United Kingdom. The passport is a Caricom passport as Saint Kitts and Nevis is a member of the Caribbean Community. As of 29 July 2023, citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 154 countries and territories.
Bill Liao is an Australian entrepreneur. He is a venture partner with SOSV and recognised as one of the Top 100 minority ethnic leaders in technology by the Financial Times.
General elections were held in Saint Kitts and Nevis on 25 January 2010 for eleven of the fourteen or fifteen seats in the National Assembly. The other three or four members of the National Assembly will be appointed by the Governor-General after the elections.
Immigrant investor programs are programs that allow individuals to more quickly obtain residence or citizenship of a country in return for making qualifying investments.
Economic citizenship can be used to represent both the economic contributions requisite to become a citizen as well as the role in which one's economic standing can influence his or her rights as a citizen. The relationship between economic participation and citizenship can be considered a contributing factor to increasing inequalities and unequal representation of different socioeconomic classes within a country.
Visa requirements for Saint Kitts and Nevis citizens are administrative entry restrictions imposed by the authorities of foreign states on citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis. As of 29 July 2023, citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 159 countries and territories, ranking the Saint Kitts and Nevis passport 24th in terms of travel freedom according to the Passport Index.
The Henley Passport Index is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom allowed by those countries' ordinary passports for their citizens. It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index and was changed and renamed in January 2018.
Christian H. Kälin or Kaelin is a Swiss businessperson, author, government advisor and lawyer who is the chairman of Henley & Partners, an architect of citizenship-by-investment programs that allow wealthy individuals to obtain additional passports.
The Commonwealth of Dominica has been operating a citizenship by investment programme since 1993, making it the second Caribbean island-nation to launch one such programme – having been preceded by the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis.
The Investment Migration Council (IMC), based in Geneva, Switzerland, was founded in 2014 as a not-for-profit organisation. The Council's mission is to set standards in the investment migration industry worldwide. The IMC supports and interacts with other associations, governments and international organisations in the investment migration field. In addition, the Council supports the industry in improving the public understanding on investment migration, which is a new industry and seen by some as controversial, through education and its code of ethics and professional conduct.
Arton Capital is a global citizenship financial advisory services firm based in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 2006 by Armand Arton, the firm provides services for global citizenship, with a particular focus on investor programs.
Business Insider looked at the Quality of Nationality Index, produced annually by Henley & Partners
The Henley Passport Index is a ranking of all the world's 199 passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa
In St. Kitts and Nevis, for example, the inflows into the real estate sector are fueling a construction boom, which has pulled the economy out of a four-year recession.
pulled St Kitts And Nevis out of a four-year recession, as well as "supporting economic recovery, improving key macroeconomic balances and boosting bank liquidity".
The Africa Wealth Report is a yearly report that lists private wealth in the continent.
The study comprises over 900 different data points within 5 parameters
Henley & Partners released its annual report on the world's wealthiest cities for 2023
newly released World's Wealthiest Cities Report 2023
17th Global Citizenship Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)