News

A government inquiry in Cyprus has found that public authorities and banks alike neglected to vet applicants to the country's controversial citizenship-by-investment program, but the nation's financial intelligence unit refuses to be included on the long list of culprits. The broad failure to apply due diligence may have allowed dozens, if not hundreds, of wealthy foreigners with questionable funds to secure "golden passports" from Cyprus by investing hundreds of millions of euros into local real estate, an independent panel led by a former Cypriot chief justice concluded in a 786-page report after a nine-month investigation. Most of the commission's blame...