European Getaway: Inside the Murky World of Golden Visas

Transparency International and Global Witness report 'European Getaway' (10 Oct 2018, 88 pp.): key findings, facts and figures, case studies (Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, Hungary, UK), Caribbean context, recommendations, Annex 1 (programmes and years established), Annex 2 (investment required and raised), Annex 3 (applicants, awardees, top-5 nationalities), Annex 4 (Cyprus/Malta/Portugal criteria), endnotes; earlier passes recorded the facts and figures, Annexes 2-3 and most Cyprus rules. This pass added: Annex 1 years established and amendment years for the 15 schemes as launch, legal-basis and rule-change events (with dates where the endnotes cite a dated decree: Austria 25 Feb 2014, Hungary 30 Dec 2014, Portugal 28 Jan 2013), Hungary's 'terminated in July 2018'; the Fibank loans (up to EUR 500,000) and the Malta fee-diversion case as scandal events; the average EU entry ticket (around EUR 900,000, proposed indicator), Cyprus main applicants never above 503 a year, Portugal 98% of golden-visa purchases in Greater Lisbon, Malta 215 donations, the concessionaire's 4% shares and EUR 70,000 service fee, EUR 100,000 alleged payments, 'up to 25 per cent of GDP' in the Caribbean, Ireland 260 approvals in 2016 (endnote 259); and the Annex 4 rules not yet stored: police certificates from every jurisdiction of more than 6 months' residence in the past 10 years (Malta MRVP and IIP) and Portugal's 20% low-density reduction (the other Annex 4 rules for the MRVP, IIP and ARI were already in the data). Endnotes pp. 74-86 reviewed: besides the items above they hold citations, article titles (e.g. 'US$20 billion-a-year industry', 'Dominica PM: 52% of govt revenue'), exchange rates and the authors' assumed approval rates (80%, 42%, 19%), none stored. Not stored as out of scope or non-numeric: Annex 4 yes/no criteria (due diligence, revocation, audits) and the 5th AML Directive's EUR 10,000 rent threshold.