St. Kitts and Nevis: Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) Governor – Timothy NJ Antoine highlights the update over the progress towards establishing a Regional Regulator for Citizenship by Investment Programmes (CIP/CBI). The progress report considers the major five Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) countries which offer these programmes.
Governor Antoine shared the update during the St. Kitts and Nevis Investment Gateway Summit on June 03, 2025, held at the St. Kitts Marriott Hotel and emphasized the importance of political support. He outlined several major milestones in detail that were achieved in the historic regional effort.
He mentioned that the ECCB was chosen specially to lead the effort because of its deep regulatory experience and expertise and the stellar track record as a regional regulator.
Antoine noted the robust nature of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, which is one of the only four formal monetary unions globally that include eight countries, five of which implement the CIP/CBI programmes.
The ECCB Governor underscored the significance of the stable Eastern Caribbean dollar, that was pegged to the US dollar for five decades, this maintains low inflation and enables the free repatriation of profits for investors without foreign exchange controls.
While giving the update, Governor Antoine said that for investors, it is a great advantage that they must never take for granted, but they want to ensure to bring additional investors to the countries.
He also talked about the economic contributions made by the CIP/CBI programmes and listed the infrastructure improvements such as roads in St. Kitts and Nevis and an international airport under construction in Dominica that are principally funded by CBI.
According to Antoine, at least two of the member countries rely on CBI programmes for 50% of their revenues that underlines the vital role that these programmes play in economic and social resilience.
He outlined the core objectives of the proposed Regional Regulator and explained that the framework would operate under a single, uniform law across the five participating countries.
This approach aimed to minimize regulatory arbitrage and unfair competition, while also promoting transparency and consistent standards. However, the regulator will license all market participants, monitor and enforce compliance by engaging stakeholders locally and internationally.
The ECCB Governor clarified that the regulator will be a separate legal entity from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, reiterating the ECCB leads setup, which will manage the operations of the regulator.
Notably, ECCB is currently overseeing the preparation of the regulatory framework, considering an Interim Regulatory Commission (IRC), comprising representatives from the five countries, the OECS Commission, CARICOM IMPACS and the ECCB.
Antoine further reported extensive consultations that took place with governments, opposition parties, local agents, developers, financial intelligence units, banks and international partners from the US, UK and EU.
He gave confirmation that they are now in a position to submit the draft legal framework and added that the draft was under review with the prime ministers. He clarified that a post-draft consultation would be launched shortly, by giving stakeholders time to share their review and comment.
Meanwhile, the plan is to share it this month and finalize it in July, by the end of July and early August to make a final submission. Then the government will have, by the end of this year, Dec 2025, enact legislation into law.
The Governor of ECCB emphasized that the political will is paramount and “without that support, this is dead on arrival. So that is essential.”
Other critical success factors include regulatory independence, accountability, transparency through annual compliance reports, enforcement authority, effective risk management, along with ongoing stakeholder engagement.
Antoine also added about advisory body was designed to provide continuous market feedback, without allowing regulatory capture, and ensured the regulator remains independent while being responsive to industry dynamics.
He concluded his remarks and reflected on the challenges and opportunities of the Caribbean region which stated that they cannot change the history, not the geography, but they can accelerate and elevate the development trajectory through innovation, and this is what CBI was, earlier in 1984, a collective action.
This is what they are doing together now as they set up the regional regulator. He believes that they will succeed if they come together and stay together.