CY Leung announces suspension of immigration investor scheme

The abrupt suspension of a 12-year-old immigration investor scheme sent ripples through the financial and immigration industries yesterday as would-be investors rushed to catch the "last train" in.

Set up in the wake of the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003, the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme has attracted thousands of mainlanders to quickly and cheaply procure residency in Hong Kong.

Eligible applicants have to invest at least HK$10 million in stocks, bonds or insurance in the city and have prior residency anywhere apart from four rogue states and the mainland.

The Post reported in 2013 that Gambia - where many Chinese citizens have gained permanent residency - was the No1 source of applications under the scheme, followed by Guinea-Bissau, Canada and the Philippines.

As of September, HK$205.8 billion has been invested with the scheme, about a fifth of it in real estate, which ceased being an investment class in 2010.

Roughly 90 per cent of all approved cases were "Chinese nationals with permanent residence overseas".

EK Immigration Consulting chairman Eddie Kwan King-hung expressed shock at the move, announced in Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's policy address, saying it would deal a huge blow to the immigration and financial industries.