Amendment to Residence Law: A number of amendments to the law on Andorran residence and immigration has been approved by the General Council.
The intention is to increase the attraction of Andorra as an international destination for foreign nationals wishing to take residence in the Principality.
The amendments are relatively minor revisions to the existing law, with the only significant changes being the introduction of a refundable deposit for individuals taking residence and conducting a personal business activity and the time to be spent in the Principality for those conducting an activity.
The Regulations relating to residence for young people, aged 18 to 30yrs, have been eased with temporary authorisation for residence with an employment option, subject to certain conditions.
Residence with personal business activity: Almost 250 applications for residence with personal business activity have been approved so far this year. As part of the government’s effort to continue to promote foreign investment into Andorra, the Council of Ministers has approved an increase to the number of applications that will be accepted by a further 250 to the end of this year, when the quota will be subject to further review.
A total of almost 2,000 applications for residence with a personal business activity have been issued since 2016.
Banking and Finance: New laws introduced by the Ministry of Finance have implemented a number of changes to legislation which regulate the solvency, liquidity and supervision of banks and financial entities that operate in Andorra. The changes have been introduced to bring Andorra in line with EU banking legislation. It is expected that the regulations will strengthen the financial sector enabling it to provide greater security for customers’ deposits. The requirement that financial institutions have greater liquidity and stable financing in place, will enable them to better withstand stresses in the future.
- The Financial Intelligence Unit of Andorra (UIFAND) has published its latest report on steps the Principality has taken to meet international standards following Moneyval’s fourth round of evaluations in September 2015. The Head of UIFAND, Mr Carles Pifarré, stated that progress has been made to adapt existing systems to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. This steps confirms the unequivocal will in Andorra to meet international standards and ‘ to face the future on an equal footing with other leading international jurisdictions, …to position Andorra as a reformist country set on fulfilling the commitments it has undertaken.’ The Report is available in English at www.uifand.ad
As part of this process, the government approved in June new Regulations which detail internal controls and audits for relevant entities to implement further KYC and due diligence obligations.
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