Malta published Third Annual Report on the Individual Investor Programme of the Government of Malta from 1st July 2015 – 30th June 2016.
The Individual Investor Programme of the Republic of Malta (IIP), by virtue of Legal Notice 47 of 2014, allows for the granting of citizenship by a certificate of naturalisation to individuals and their families who contribute to the economic and social development of Malta. The program is open to EU/EEA and non-EU nationals.
According to the third annual report, Malta received total of 723 applications under IIP from start of program to June 2016. About 60 applications received refusals. Only 450 applications received from Jul 2015 to June 2016.
As of 2016, about 44.5% of IIP applicants came from Europe, 20% from Gulf, 15% came from Asia regions.
1186 dependents applied for Malta IIP on in the year 2015-16
Only 20% of applicants chose to purchase property whilst 80% opted to lease a property. 34 properties purchased and 143 leased from launching of the IIP till 30 June 2016. The most popular areas were Sliema, St Julians and Valletta for leasing and buying a property.
Between July 2015 and June 2016 the value of the 27 purchased properties amounted to €28,322,519.93, averaging €1,048,982.22. Such average is significantly above the minimum threshold of €350,000 set in the IIP Regulations.
Investments in Government stocks totalled €26,733,764.73 from the previous reporting period to 2016. The amount invested in Stocks between July 2015 and June 2016 totalled €20,303,426.58
During the period under review by this Report, the contributions collected by Identity Malta Agency (IMA) amounted to €166,550,000. This equates to approximately 1.81% of the GDP relative to the same period (estimated at €9,196,500,000). Taking all inputs from the IIP related to property purchases and rent, investments and contributions during the period covered by this Report, the sum total (€218,672,980) would equate to approximately 2.38% of the GDP relative to the same period.
When the amount of contributions collected during the period covered by this Report is added to the contributions previously collected by IMA since the launching of this Programme this would result in a grand total of €218,900,000 contributions collected by IMA in respect of this Programme.
During the period covered by this report, the amounts collected by way of such fees were as follows: Due diligence fees €7,287,500 Passport fees €856,000, Bank Charges fees €92,200
The total number of Accredited Agents for Malta Individual Investor Programme (Malta IIP) as of at the end of June 2016 now stands at 132.
The report also mentions comments by agents regarding the current scheme. Once such comment published in the report says
A few Agents were concerned that the 1800 threshold might soon be reached and that therefore this placed a degree of uncertainty on the scheme. There were mixed feelings about recent international developments (namely the UK’s decision to exit from the EU) with some claiming that this had no effect on applications and others claiming that – at least in their case – interest was dwindling. There were also mixed feelings about the recent introduction in Malta of the MRVP (Malta Residency and Visa Program). Some claimed that potential IIP applicants might have opted instead to apply for the MRVP whereas other agents claimed that both schemes were different and that therefore one had absolutely no bearing over the other.
The annual report of Malta IIP is expected to be published every year which is required at law, in order to regulate the Individual Investor Programme in terms of Article 25(8) of the Maltese Citizenship Act (Cap 188).
Sources:
- https://oriip.gov.mt/en/Documents/Reports/Annual%20Report%202016.pdf
- http://iip.gov.mt/
- https://identitymalta.com/new/malta-residency-visa-program-mrvp-guidelines-and-applications/
