EB5 Investors Magazine | Page 76

Corporate & Securities Attorneys Catherine DeBono Holmes is a corporate and securities attorney and partner at Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Mitchell, LLP, headquartered in Los Angeles. She is the chair of the firm’s investment capital law group and has been practicing law for more than 30 years. In the midst of the financial crisis of 2008, Cathy heard about EB-5, realized it was the perfect funding vehicle for hotel development, and has subsequently assisted over 50 developers to obtain EB-5 financing for mixed-use, multi-family, and hotel developments. Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Mitchell is comprised of 120 attorneys working within a number of dedicated practice groups. As chair of the investment capital group, Cathy oversees a team that helps business clients, particularly in the field of real estate development, to raise capital through various offerings such as EB-5. Cathy’s extensive expertise includes everything from securities broker-dealer registration, to regulatory compliance and exemptions, to real estate broker licensing. Cathy finds that EB-5 can be a time-consuming process that is accompanied by a number of risks resulting from changes in USCIS policy and uncertainties related to issues such as retrogression. However, she remains dedicated to working with EB-5 capital for the tremendous opportunities it provides not only to developers and immigrant investors, but also to average Americans: EB-5 provides access to capital 74 Catherine DeBono Holmes that is necessary to create U.S. jobs. In the past five years alone, Cathy has noted an increase in the number of developers seeking EB-5 capital, along with a higher quality of projects being offered in the EB-5 marketplace. Cathy has made it a specialty to counsel people about the securities laws that apply to EB-5 investments, including the laws that apply to U.S. broker/dealers, U.S. investment advisers, and the requirements under the Investment Company Act, along with the exemptions to these laws. In order to eliminate confusion for all involved in the EB-5 community, Cathy is constantly working to obtain clarification on these various securities issues, focusing on the inapplicability of certain laws in relation to EB-5 investments. EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE