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MALTATODAY 27 October 2024

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MATTHEW VELLA mvella@mediatoday.com.mt 10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 OCTOBER 2024 NEWS By a decree given on the 3rd October, 2024, by the Civil Court, First Hall, the Court ordered that the extract hereunder mentioned be published for the purpose of service according to Article 187 (5) of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure (Cap. 12): By decree given by the Civil Court, First Hall, on the 14th May, 2024, on the application of APS Bank plc (C 2192), Tuesday, 12th November, 2024, at eleven in the morning (11.00 a.m.), has been fixed for the sale by auction, to be held in Room Number 78, Nearby the Courts Archives, Level -1, Courts of Justice, Triq ir- Repubblika, Valletta of the following property: Block building without oicial number named Alu Care Buildings, in Triq il-Kappar previously known as Triq Ġdida fi Triq in-Naġġar, Mosta, excluding the penthouse situated on the third (3rd) floor level, however including the sub terrain. The building is situated in an industrial zone and consists of a factory extending on three levels, one of which a basement level, including the ancillary use as garage for vehicles and space for material storage. Access to the street is accessed from three (3) doors situated on the street floor level, with right of reciprocal passage with the penthouse situated on the third (3rd) floor level and is bounded on the north by the said street granting access, on the west by property of Francis Sciberras or successors in title and on the east with property of Maria Vella or her successors in title, or more accurate boundaries, free and unencumbered, with all its rights and appurtenances and valued at one million, five hundred and thirty two thousand, one hundred and sixty five euro (€1,532,165). The said tenement is the property of Alu Care Holdings Ltd (C30207). N.B. The said tenement will be sold as described in the acts of judicial sales number 23/2020. Registry of the Superior Courts, this Monday 14th October, 2024 MARVIC FARRUGIA For the Registrar, Civil Courts and Tribunals Golden passports: Brussels's genuine THE European Court of Justice's advocate general's opinion in Brussels's case against Malta's golden passport scheme may have dealt the investment migra- tion community a winning hand. The Investment Migration Council, a lobby of major firms invested in the sale of citizen- ship, said an AG opinion that questioned Brussels's move to take Malta's sale of citizenship to the ECJ, was a "very strong message to the court". "It is worth noting that opin- ions are sometimes cited more than cases," IMC chief executive officer Bruno L'ecuyer told Mal- taToday. "We acknowledge the media interest surrounding the EU v. Malta case. While we re- spect the court's eventual deci- sion, regardless of the outcome, the AG's opinion is a very strong message to the court." Other critics of the European Commission's action against Malta believe Brussels has over- reached on its powers to whip a small member state into submis- sion over the sale of citizenship, as some members of the Maltese citizenship-by-investment com- munity told this newspaper. L'ecuyer, a co-founder of the IMC, said his lobby has been dedicated to establishing and promoting global standards on the sale of citizenship while pro- viding qualifications in invest- ment migration, in collaboration with governments and policy- makers and the EU. In identifying the potential ac- quirers of an EU passport as the likely perpetrators of financial crimes, L'ecuyer suggests Brus- sels misreads the way any such wrongdoer – golden passport or not – is dealt with by EU law. "It is essential to acknowledge that in May 2024, the European Council approved a comprehen- sive legislative package targeting anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT). These regula- tions represent a significant shift for investment migration, which is now integrated into a broader regulatory framework. This new reality places investment migra- tion alongside other established sectors that are subject to strin- gent and necessary AML proce- dures," he said. Genuine links only for CBIs Malta has always insisted that EU citizenship is contingent solely upon national citizenship – and that any competences not explicitly granted to the Union are retained by the Member States. So, laws that are the ex- clusive jurisdiction of the mem- ber state, such as citizenship, can never be transferred to the EU. Even the EU's Court of Justice has given wide berth to mem- bers states in setting their own terms on defining nationality for its citizens (Micheletti line of cases). The Commission on the oth- er hand, claims EU citizenship when acquired based on pay- ment, "is incompatible with the principle of sincere coopera- tion", the latter forming part of the Treaty of the EU, claiming further that 'sincere coopera- tion' demands a genuine link between the elites buying their golden passports and Malta. The question is why citizenship by descent, or through special achievements does not get the same scrutiny by the EC? The AG's opinion thinks this betrays the Commission's inconsistency on when member states' citizen- ship laws might affect internal security concerns. Supporters of CBI programmes insist that the EU's concern with the risks of financial illegali- ties tied with golden passports, is misdirected and that is the phenomenon of freely mov- ing capital and interconnected transactions that facilitates il- licit finance. Malta's response to the European Parliament reso- lutions and the Commission's case in the ECJ, eventually led to further reforms of the former Individual Investor Programme, for the strengthening of due dili- gence on these applications. Blood or no blood There can be a thin line be- tween the alleged perils from naturalised citizens based on blood criteria; and those who acquire a golden passport with- out any profound affinity to a destination country – what Prof. Dmitry Kochenov, a past con- sultant for CBI supremos Hen- ley, dubbed as "fetishising blood as the paragon for building a just human society." The point is there are many instances where ancestral line- age allows foreigners to acquire citizenship – as in the case of Australians with Malta, or South Americans with Italy – simply to gain access to the European Un- ion without any real genuine link such as residence, birthplace or income. Little then is said about the al- ternative ways in countries can accord citizenship by recognis- ing individuals who make contri-

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