The renegotiation of the contract with Henley and Partners to reflect changes to the controversial Individual Investor Programme saw the company receive a "marginally" higher commission on applications whilst Identity Malta assumed considerably greater responsibilities, the Public Accounts Committee was told this evening.

The PAC is scrutinising the contract signed between the government and Henley and Partners, the "concessionaire" of a programme which has been criticised as the sale of Maltese citizenship.

The programme was amended on multiple occasions in a bid to address criticism and secure the approval of the European Commission, and the contract had to be renegotiated as a result.

Identity Malta executive chairman Joe Vella Bonnici and IIP CEO Jonathan Cardona addressed the committee in this evening's session, with the former stating that the agency is "totally" responsible for the administration of the programme.

PAC chairman Tonio Fenech said that the relevant legal notices gave a different impression, leading Mr Vella Bonnici to reveal that yet another legal notice is being planned to reflect current practice. Mr Cardona said that the authorities were waiting for an entire cycle - from the preliminary application to the granting of citizenship - to be completed before issuing a legal notice, to avoid the need of even more amendments in the future.

But both Mr Fenech and fellow opposition MP Claudio Grech then highlighted that the renegotiated contract appeared to provide Henley with a higher commission. The original contract specified a 4% commission on the €650,000 contribution each applicant had to make, but in the present contract, the commission is 4% of this contribution - even in cases where other marketing agents represent the applicants - and other fees.

Mr Vella Bonnici confirmed that the commission increased, although he said that this increase was marginal.

Mr Grech highlighted that this occurred even though Identity Malta was now doing most of the work Henley was originally set to do, but Mr Vella Bonnici said that this should be explained by those responsible for renegotiating the contract.

While both Mr Vella Bonnici and Mr Cardona could not confirm who was, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici stepped in and confirmed that he was the one politically responsible for the renegotiation.