Does Buying Citizenship Undermine Global Governance?

• Florence School of Transnational Governance

In this talk, the panelists will discuss the implications of the proliferation of investor citizenship programmes for global governance.

The proliferation of investor citizenship programmes in the last decade has led to increased international mobility to those who can shell out the necessary investments for their preferred passports. But the nature of golden visa schemes — the lack of transparency and accountability mechanisms, in particular — has meant that such programmes often operate in a shadowy world that remains relatively far from the reach of international institutions.

The primary actors involved in such arrangements are national governments and the private companies associated with what has become a lucrative global business: real estate companies as well as law and accounting firms specialising in tax management and so-called citizenship planning for high-net-worth individuals.

In this Policy Leader Fellow talk, the panelists will examine the implications of these programmes for global governance. 

The event will be moderated by Policy Leader Fellow Anna Patricia Valerio.

Speakers:

• Jelena Džankic, Co-Director of the Global Citizenship Observatory
• Kristin Surak, Assistant Professor in Sociology at the London School of Economics
• Anna Patricia Valerio, Policy Leader Fellow