TOP CORPORATE ATTORNEYS
DEBBIE KLIS Shareholder Polsinelli PC
Debbie Klis is a shareholder at Polsinelli PC .
She has a broad financial practice focused on business , securities and private fund formation including EB-5 investment funds and regional centers , hedge funds , private equity and real estate funds and international master-feeder funds . Her experience includes structuring successful debt and equity EB-5 investments coupled with public financing : HUD
Section 221 ( d ) 4 senior mortgage loans , the low -income housing tax credit , federal and state historic tax credits , new market tax credits , local government revenue bonds , tax-exempt municipal bonds , federal energy tax credits , crowdfunding and assorted sources of private financing . Klis ’ project experience with EB-5 financing includes mixed-use commercial projects , condominium and single-family home construction , green-energy solar farms , restaurants , hotels , casinos , a national museum , a research and development facility and other real estate and company financings . Klis is a frequent speaker and author regarding EB-5 project finance and related securities and corporate matters .
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5 INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE ?
I foresee a few major changes , including : amendments to the TEA definition favoring investments in rural areas and closed military bases and restricting the TEA definition in urban areas , increases to the minimum investment requirements , mandatory use of escrow agents to oversee collection and deployment of EB-5 funds , and USCIS project preapproval mandates . I would like to see reforms including : no changes to the TEA definition in urban areas ; increases to the number of visas ; minimal increase to the investment amounts with gradual increases over time ; clarity regarding deployment in atrisk investments ; and a carryover of investors ’ time in the queue when they amend their I-526 petition because of unforeseeable changes and incentives for utilizing EB-5 funds for lowincome housing projects .
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THE ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT ?
I have included redeployment language in our clients ’ offering documents for several years so we are well positioned to assist them with project restructurings , refinancings and assets sales as business needs shift . For new clients , I am relying on the policy guidance in the updated USCIS Policy Manual , which provides flexibility to meet the realities of the business world . In reliance on the Policy Manual , I am assisting clients to restructure projects – educating regional center principals in order to gain their permission for the restructuring , the new investment and the release of collateral from the original investment – and guiding clients on replacement investments .
JOR LAW Co-founder , Homeier Law PC Co-founder , VerifyInvestor . com
Jor Law is a co-founder of Homeier Law
PC , practicing corporate and securities transactional law in Los Angeles . Law maintains a broad-based general corporate legal practice with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and finance . He is particularly experienced in alternative finance , including EB-5 finance , crowdfunding and cryptocurrency / blockchain initial coin offerings . Law founded Homeier
Law ’ s EB-5 practice , which represents hundreds of EB-5 clients who have successfully contributed billions of dollars through the EB-5 program . Homeier Law also continues to influence policy changes and reforms to the EB-5 program . Law received his J . D . from Columbia University and his bachelor ’ s degree from the University of California , Berkeley . Law is licensed to practice law in California and New York . Law is also a co-founder and the principal architect of verifyInvestor . com , a provider of accredited investor verification compliance solutions .
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5 INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE ?
I expect that we will see the EB-5 industry continue its global diversification away from China . There may be an increase in the use of crowdfunding laws and techniques to locate EB-5 investors as it becomes exponentially costly to market in multiple countries around the world . I would like to see faster processing times , a less paranoid approach for adjudication and practical integrity measures . In addition , I would like to see investors who have made a qualifying investment not be penalized simply because the “ at-risk ” investment actually failed .
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THE ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT ?
We specifically address the concept of redeployment both in definitive documents as well as disclosure documents with several options available for clients to choose from . Our firm takes a tiered approach toward redeployment , which is aimed to give maximum flexibility with the least amount of liability . We also are now advising on a number of workout situations where we have been retained typically by a new project to help them transition investors from another failed project into their own project .
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