Palau Board Deferred 13 Investment Licence Revocations Pending More Records

Palau's Foreign Investment Board deferred action on 13 foreign-investment certificate cases that were in the process of revocation at its September 16 meeting, asking staff for more information on deposits and alleged violations before making decisions, according to official board minutes reviewed by TFNOS.

The four-page meeting record, prepared by Executive Director Raymond August on September 25 and approved by Chairperson Cornelia Mason, records the board's request for deposit amounts and reports showing the violations attributed to each certificate holder. It says action was deferred until the next meeting to allow the director to supply the information.

The minutes list 13 foreign-investment approval certificates in the revocation process. **They do not establish that all 13 certificates were revoked, that each business broke the law, or that the board's request arose from a finding of fraud.** The record does not provide a final decision for those cases. The board's public documents index lists a September 30 meeting, but the linked PDF could not be retrieved during this review, so the later outcomes remain unverified.

The September record supplies a concrete post-audit view of the board's work. Palau's Office of the Public Auditor had issued performance audit 2026-003 on July 6, finding incomplete or missing required material in seven of 15 sampled foreign-investment application files and two of three sampled amendment approvals without applications on file. The Foreign Investment Board told the auditor that it had introduced new intake and completeness-check procedures. The auditor also accepted later-produced minutes demonstrating a quorum for four approvals, so those four approvals cannot be described as lacking a quorum.

Those audit findings concern **application and recordkeeping controls**. The 13 September revocation matters concern **later enforcement procedures**. The two sets of records cannot be treated as evidence that the same businesses were involved, or that the audit caused the September deferrals. The minutes also do not show whether the new application procedures have been consistently applied.

The same September meeting demonstrates that the board did reach a decision in another matter. Following a September 9 administrative hearing, it unanimously imposed a **US$3,000 fine** on the operator of Palau Sunrise Seaview Landison Retreat/Moonshadow Restaurant for operating at an additional location outside the scope of its foreign-investment certificate. The operator argued that it had acted through an oversight, had already faced financial losses from a closure, and believed its existing certificate covered restaurant operations. The board determined that the certificate was specific to the licensed lot and required a new, complete application. This was a board-level administrative finding, not a criminal conviction.

The minutes record four board members present and state that a quorum was established. They also record an application to manage the Palau Paradise Hotel being tabled while public comments were circulated. Neither entry by itself proves that the board has remedied the documentation weaknesses identified by the auditor.

This is further documentary reporting on TFNOS's earlier report about the July foreign-investment audit, not a claim that the September events happened after that article was published. The next checks are the original September 30 minutes, the status of each of the 13 revocation cases, and any subsequent audit follow-up measuring whether complete records and fair hearing procedures are now maintained.