The lack of management of the 'golden visa' opens the door to financial crimes, in accordance with the anti-money laundering workplace | Economy | EUROtoday

Spain is the final nation within the eurozone that, to this point, has introduced a divorce from the golden visa, the coveted visas which have grow to be over a decade a beautiful solution to get hold of a residence allow in trade for a minimal funding of 500,000 euros in actual property. Between the tip of 2013, once they had been regulated, and the start of this 12 months, 14,576 of those permits have been granted in accordance with knowledge from the Ministry of Housing. But discovering knowledge on these visas, past what the Government has been making public sporadically, just isn’t straightforward and this lack of transparency entails a threat of cash laundering, because the Secretariat for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offenses (Sepblac, the supervisory authority for cash laundering in Spain). “Spain is a tourist attraction and there is a great exposure to risk,” mentioned África Pinillos, head of Sepblac Supervision at a convention organized by Transparency International to demand a reform of the legislation that regulated these residence permits, along with extra measures. of management.

“We don't know how many people request it and how many are rejected,” exemplifies Eka Rostomashvili, coordinator of the Spanish department of Transparency International, in dialog with EL PAÍS. Rostomashvili remembers the brand new anti-money laundering measures adopted by Brussels a number of weeks in the past as she considers that they put golden visas within the highlight. “Now all countries that offer these types of programs must first assess the risks they entail in terms of money laundering, as well as tax evasion and security, and then design very specific risk mitigation measures. Lastly, it also obligates everyone who participates in the transactions,” she explains.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, revealed in April his intention to finish the instrument, promoted in 2013 by the PP Government of Mariano Rajoy with the aim of attracting extra funding to Spain through the monetary disaster. “We are going to take the necessary measures to guarantee that housing is a right and not a mere speculative business,” the Chief Executive mentioned final month. Spain will proceed like this – partially, since in principle the golden visa will stay in pressure in different non-real property funding instances, though the Government has not but finalized its proposal—a advice made by the European Commission in 2022. Countries comparable to Ireland, Portugal and Greece, which additionally had the sort of visa, beforehand introduced their withdrawal, whereas international locations like Italy have maintained their packages. In Italy, a international investor can purchase a residence allow with a minimal funding of 250,000 euros, half of what’s required in Spain.

But Rostomashvili reminds that though Portugal eradicated the true property choice from its program in 2023, that doesn’t imply that the issue has disappeared. “To remain competitive – this is a serious problem in all EU Member States – we see a race to the bottom in terms of standards as countries compete to offer favorable conditions for investors,” he says.

For his half, Pinillos has additionally known as for stronger measures to bolster the knowledge obligations of all intermediaries and operators concerned within the visa granting course of: from banks to actual property brokers and legal professionals representing candidates.

Foreigners of Chinese nationality account for greater than half of the visas granted by the Government all through its decade in pressure, with 2,712 visas, in accordance with knowledge collected by Transparency International. In second place are Russian residents, with 1,159 visas granted, adopted by 202 Iranian nationals. Both Moscow and Tehran, the non-profit group highlights, wouldn’t have formal entry to the SWIFT banking system with which most worldwide transfers are processed as a consequence of sanctions imposed by Brussels.

The regional consultant of Más Madrid Emilia Sánchez, who additionally participated within the occasion, has supported the reform of the legislation pursued by Transparency International. “With the golden visa “We had opened the door and closed our eyes,” he said. “The rich have a golden door and the rest are waiting in lines,” she concluded.

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