The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A developer believes the Bahamas does not need an Investor Citizen programme because permanent residency is sufficient, adding: “Citizenship should be earned for who you are, not what you pay.”

Garth Buckner, Sandyport Development Company’s president, told Tribune Business that while some Caribbean countries were using Investor Citizenship initiatives to “kickstart” their second home markets, the Bahamas had no need for this because its was “fully developed”.

Speaking before it became publicly known that the US Treasury had warned St Kitts’ Investor Citizen programme was ‘open to abuse’, Mr Buckner told Tribune Business: “A number of other countries are doing it.

“They tend to be underdeveloped southern Caribbean countries that are really looking to kickstart their second home market. The Bahamas has a fully developed second home market.”

The Sandyport president added: “Since the repeal of the Immovable Properties Act and its replacement by the International Persons Landholding Act, and the Government’s policy of giving accelerated consideration for permanent residency base upon property investments of over $1.5 million, that is enough.

“That is sufficient to meet the needs of our buyers, and I think Bahamian citizenship is an important part of our identity and I don’t think it’s for sale. To me, permanent residency is sufficient and does what people need.”

Mr Buckner added that a citizenship criteria “has to be love of this country, knowledge of this country and commitment to this country and minimum period of time living here. I don’t think it’s something for sale.

“When you are granted permission to become a citizen of the Bahamas, it’s something you earn for whom you are, rather than what you pay.”

Mr Buckner’s comments represent a further ‘push back’ to the Investor Citizen proposal floated several weeks ago by Prime Minister Perry Christie’s top adviser, Sean McWeeney QC.

The Graham, Thompson & Co partner told the 2014 Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Caribbean conference that the Bahamas needed to “join the bandwagon” by introducing an Investor Citizenship programme to target the world’s wealthiest individuals, something that could have “the most transformative effect” on the economy.

Rather than boosting the Bahamas’s second home market, Mr McWeeney’s proposal is one geared to attracting high net worth persons and their families to follow their money to the Bahamas, becoming residents here and ultimately investing in the domestic economy.

Its goal is to attract more Joe Lewis’s and Izmirlian families to the Bahamas. The billionaires, both of whom reside at Lyford Cay, have ultimately invested billions in the domestic economy, and created thousands of local jobs, via Albany and Baha Mar respectively.

Tribune Business understands that a proposed Bahamian Investor Citizen programme has been widely discussed in the Bahamian financial services industry, and received large support from both it and other sectors.

It is not official government policy - at least not yet. Tribune Business understands, though, that it is viewed a potential solution and counter to developed nations’ tax initiatives, especially the automatic exchange of tax information, as it removed the ‘residency issue’ for Europeans and other non-US nationals.

Mr McWeeney said the Bahamas needed to take “a quality over quantity” approach when it came to attracting financial services business and investors - a strategy an Investor Citizenship initiative would facilitate.

He added that the programme would offer select investors permanent residency with a “guarantee” of Bahamian citizenship once strict criteria were met.

These conditions included fulfilling commitments to take up residence in the Bahamas, and invest in its economy, with a ‘high bar’ set for the investment dollar value that would be required.

Mr McWeeney emphasised, though, that an Investor Citizenship programme would not be “mass marketed” to the world, with Bahamian citizenship sold en masse to persons who never set foot in the Bahamas.