TOP CORPORATE ATTORNEYS
CATHERINE DEBONO HOLMES Chair , Investment Capital Law Group
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP
Catherine Debono Holmes is chair of the
Investment Capital Law Group at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP ( JMBM ). She has practiced law at JMBM for 35 years and worked as a senior member of the Global Hospitality Group and Chinese Investment Group . Holmes helps real estate developers and business owners , brokers , investment advisers and investment managers raise and manage investment capital from domestic and international investors . In the last five years , she has represented over 100 real estate developers obtaining financing through the EB-5 program for hotels , multi-family and mixed use developments . She has been lead counsel on hotel and mixeduse developments and transactions , hotel management and franchise agreements and public-private hotel developments in the United States , Europe , China , South America and Asia Pacific . Holmes also represents private investment fund managers , registered securities brokerdealers and investment advisers . She is a member of the EB-5 Securities Roundtable .
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY ?
The EB-5 industry continues to mature as a financing market for job-creating projects in the United States with the adoption of better funding controls , better due diligence and better understanding of the elements of a sound EB-5 investment by both sponsors and marketing agents of EB-5 projects . Senior lenders and other financing providers are becoming more comfortable with EB-5 financing as a part of a project capital stack , which allows the financing of better quality projects . That in turn benefits EB-5 investors who depend upon the quality of their projects to obtain approval of their visas from USCIS .
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THE ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT ?
Recent USCIS policy guidance allows redeployment of capital for EB-5 investors , whose capital is required to remain “ at risk ” for potentially 10 years or longer . We now advise sponsors that it is possible to receive repayment of their initial investment and reinvest in one or more additional investments . We still do not know how similar the new investments must be to the original investment , so we analyze multiple options and allow the EB-5 entity manager to balance the investment risks with the immigration risks in selecting the type of reinvestment . We hope that USCIS provides further guidance on this issue soon .
MICHAEL G . HOMEIER Co-founder Homeier Law PC
Michael G . Homeier practices corporate , business and securities transactional law in Los Angeles as a founding shareholder of Homeier Law PC . Homeier maintains a broadbased general corporate legal practice with an emphasis on mergers & acquisitions and business finance / securities . He is recognized for his expertise in alternative finance , including EB-5 finance , crowdfunding and cryptocurrency / blockchain initial coin offerings . As a leader of Homeier Law ’ s EB-5 practice , he has led the firm in representing clients on hundreds of different EB-5 matters large and small , helping companies and projects successfully raise billions of dollars and create thousands of new U . S . jobs through the EB-5 program . He is also working to influence positive policy changes and common-sense integrity reforms to the program . Homeier received his J . D . from the University of Southern California and his B . A . from UCLA . He is licensed to practice law in California .
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5 INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE ?
The EB-5 industry will continue shifting from China-sourced investors to involve investors from an increasingly global marketplace while it struggles with too low of a visa ceiling and unfortunately protracted processing timeframes . We expect a gradual increase in the use of crowdfunding to locate EB-5 investors as it becomes costly to market in multiple countries . Meanwhile , our firm advocates congress ’ reasonable integrity reform proposals , while we seek speedier processing times , a less combative adjudication approach and increased visa numbers , which directly lead to increased investment and job creation . Finally , I would like to see smaller businesses increasingly use the program in all markets , including rural and other non-coastline states and industries in addition to real estate .
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THE ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT ?
We explicitly address redeployment upfront both in our offering documents as well as definitive agreements , including several options available for clients to choose from , such as predetermined rollover , new at-risk investment determined upon initial payback and mutual funds . Our firm ’ s tiered approach toward redeployment gives maximum flexibility with the lowest perceived risk of liability , seeking to protect investors and their immigration goals as well as fulfilling principals ’ full disclosure obligations .
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