EB5 Investors Magazine Volume 5, Issue 2 | Page 78

TOP CORPORATE ATTORNEYS clients who extend credit for Korean and other corporate borrowers in the United States. He brings his finance experience to the negotiating table when structuring EB-5 deals and when advising his clients on how to structure the EB-5 capital stack. His strong relationships with traditional banks allow him to understand loan transactions and the role that traditional and EB-5 lenders can play in EB-5 deals. Park frequently speaks on EB-5 related topics and writes on finance and securit ies issues for EB-5 industry professionals. He is fluent in Korean. STEVE B. PARK Partner Ballard Spahr LLP S teve B. Park is a partner in Ballard Spahr’s Atlanta office and co-practice leader of the firm's EB-5 Group. He represents a wide range of regional centers, project developers and other sponsors in EB-5 financing transactions, related securities offerings and other compliance aspects of the program. He also focuses on commercial lending transactions for multinational companies and banking BRUCE ROSETTO Corporate & Securities Shareholder WHAT REFORMS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE? The EB-5 industry has been evolving and I believe it is much better situated now than a few years ago to make the necessary adjustments to continue to thrive and drive value to both foreign investors and project developers. Industry professionals share the common goal of being vigilant and adopting best practices to guard against fraud and bad actors and to strictly comply with both immigration and securities law requirements. With respect to reforms, I would like to see safe-harbor regulations from the SEC practice includes general corporate transactional work, debt and equity financings, EB-5 corporation and securities transactions, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, securities, investment banking, broker/ dealer regulation, intellectual property and licensing, employment law, banking and real estate transactions. He also advises clients on raising capital for and establishing regional centers to administer projects qualifying for investment under the EB-5 program. Rosetto received his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. He is highly engaged in the legal community and is a member on numerous boards and associations. Rosetto has been recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer and in the Legal 500 UK. Greenberg Traurig LLP B ruce Rosetto is a corporate and securities shareholder at Greenberg Traurig LLP and is co-managing shareholder for the firm’s Boca Raton office. In addition to his experience with EB-5 program corporation and securities transactions, he works in debt and equity financings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. His 77 EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5 INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE? I think an increase in the $500,000 sum required to invest will increase, probably to $1 million or even more, and the TEA designations will be tightened. The long- term impact will be to reduce the pool of EB-5 investors who can afford to file an providing clearer guidance on agent relationship in foreign jurisdictions and additional visa set-asides for rural projects. WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY? Both EB-5 investors and foreign agents are becoming more conservative and sophisticated, which drives up the quality of EB-5 projects and likelihood of project success and repayment of EB-5 funds to the investors. I am seeing much more focused attention on securities law compliance – from overall structure involving registered broker-dealer, third party due diligence, escrow and agent fee arrangements to better disclosure doc u me n ts for the inves tor s. T he transaction documents continue to get more complicated as EB-5 funds make up a smaller portion of the financing capital stack and need to be integrated with other debt and equity sources. EB-5 petition. On the other hand, integrity measures, even without legislation, are being adopted by most regional centers and this is very positive for the EB-5 program as those investors who do move forward with the EB-5 program will be investing in a better class of projects. WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY? One of the major trends in the EB-5 industry is the continued acceptance and growth of EB-5 investors from countries outside of China. This trend is especially showing up in projects in Florida, which is seeing significant growth in EB-5 investors from South America, Europe and the Middle East. A second trend, in large part due to the numerous failed projects across the country, is that the EB-5 investors and their representatives are performing much more stringent due diligence and analysis of the project and the developer track record before making an investment.