Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 15585
| 01 July 2022
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted at the 1437th meeting
of the Ministers’ Deputies (15 June 2022). 2022 - Third part-session
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 2191
(2020)
1. The Committee of
Ministers has carefully examined Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 2191 (2020) “Investment migration” and has transmitted it to the
Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law (CAHDI),
the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC), the European Committee
on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ), the Group of States against Corruption
(GRECO), and the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money
Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) for
information and possible comments.
2. The Committee reiterates the importance of the treaties mentioned
in paragraph 1 of the Assembly’s recommendation concerning nationality,
the fight against money laundering and corruption, mutual assistance in
criminal and tax matters, and the movement of persons between Council
of Europe member States, and invites the States Parties to apply
them, as well as the standards of the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF), to any territories under their authority which attract investment
migration.
3. The Committee of Ministers agrees with the Parliamentary Assembly
regarding the importance of ensuring that national programmes of
member States for the award of citizenship, residence permits and
tax domiciles to foreign investors respect the legal standards of
the Council of Europe and other relevant bodies to avoid becoming
gateways for corruption, organised crime, money laundering, the
financing of terrorism and tax evasion. It informs the Assembly
that MONEYVAL has assessed several member States which have implemented
individual investment programmes, and that its mutual evaluation
reports have defined and analysed such programmes as high risk for
money laundering and terrorism financing. The Committee, therefore,
strongly encourages those member States which authorise such programmes
to continue taking all necessary steps to tackle this risk by ensuring
compliance with the legal standards of the Council of Europe and
other relevant organisations, particularly in the field of anti-money
laundering and mutual legal assistance, including by implementing
the recommendations of GRECO, MONEYVAL and the FATF, which concern
them. The Committee takes note of the Assembly’s call to phase out
these programmes.
4. Several of the measures called for in paragraph 2 of the recommendation
have featured in the monitoring work of GRECO. In its Second Evaluation
Round, GRECO recommended the establishment of public and centralised
company registers, the carrying out of rigorous due diligence checks
for public bodies and private operators, as well as whistleblower
protection.
5. As concerns the other recommended actions, the Committee of
Ministers invites the above bodies to take them into account to
the extent possible under their terms of reference, and to engage
with their international partners and observers as necessary. Where
relevant, the Committee may also consider the need for work on those
issues at the time of its mid-term review of the terms of reference
of intergovernmental committees towards the end of 2023.
