Basseterre, Saint Kitts, June 23, 2025 (PMO) —Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew has announced that the Governments of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will, within the coming month, formally establish a regional regulatory body to oversee Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes across the sub-region.
The move, spearheaded by Saint Kitts and Nevis, represents a landmark initiative in regional cooperation, economic governance, and international transparency.
Speaking on national radio, Prime Minister Drew said, “We are putting the regulatory body together. We intend to have that regulatory body in place within the next month. All of us are going to pass the legislation to set up a regional regulatory body for the CBI program.”
The regional regulatory body will unify and strengthen due diligence procedures, establish shared compliance standards, and improve international credibility for the CBI industry, which remains a vital economic lifeline for small island developing states. The Prime Minister reiterated that the approach mirrors successful models used in the establishment of regional institutions like the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.
“We have also sought to do this in close collaboration with international stakeholders, the EU, the UK, the United States of America, all involved, so that they can see the tremendous progress that we have made,” Dr. Drew explained.
In response to heightened international attention and scrutiny over the operation of CBI programmes, Dr. Drew emphasized that this Government was never caught off guard, “This has not caught me off guard at all. I was preparing the country for this… I said from the beginning that CBI would be the most challenging thing of my Prime Ministership.”
The Prime Minister added that this regulatory mechanism will help preserve the long-term viability and credibility of CBI as a legitimate pathway for investment, while insulating the region from external shocks and misinformation. “We want to make sure that when we say we want the sector to be properly regulated, we mean it. And this regional body is our proof of that commitment.”
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