Former IIP executive sets up ‘booking.com’ for passport hunters

The former chief officer for risk and compliance of Malta’s citizenship-by-investment programme has exited the agency to start an innovative online platform for the multi-millionaires seeking a second passport.

Yakof Agius is an IT and risk specialist who spent the bulk of his career with HSBC Malta, before joining Henley & Partners as managing partner and head of human resources at the start of the IIP in 2014, and then spending a year with the Malta IIP Agency as chief office risk and compliance up until 2018.

Agius passed through the revolving door by devising an online platform that will compare the providers of citizenship-by-investment programmes.

His CiviQuo platform is billed to be a disruptive force that will create a level-playing field among service providers, by bringing together the largest selection of citizenship programmes, agents and intermediaries.

Clients will be able to search and compare programme features and costs, agents’ fees and ratings. CiviQuo will be asking the agents that feature on the website to disclose the professional fee they will be charging – a tiered subscription starts from €7,000 per annum. “This is done so that clients know upfront exactly how much everything will cost,” the firm says. “CiviQuo will take care of the lead generation and conversion, similar to what booking.com does for the travel industry.”