EB-5 Source of Funds Requirements & Best Practices

Posted by Kurt Reuss on May 14, 2021

A primary requirement for the EB-5 program is an initial investment in a new commercial enterprise. The investment amount should be $800,000 in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) or $1,050,000 in a non-TEA area. According to the regulations of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), investors must provide proper documentation in their I-526 petition to demonstrate that the capital for their EB-5 investment has been obtained or earned through lawful means.

EB-5 I-526 petition requirements & recent processing times

Posted by Kurt Reuss on May 12, 2021

I-526 petition investor petition requirements

For an immigrant investor hoping to obtain a Green Card through the EB-5 program, the path begins with choosing an investment project and then filing Form I-526, the Immigration Petition by Alien Investor.

Making an EB-5 investment? Discover 7 key considerations

Posted by Kurt Reuss on September 16, 2019

1. Real estate projects had advantages historically — what’s changed

Real estate construction projects often require a substantial investment with abundant job creation that EB-5 investors can rely on. 

EB-5 regional center projects are allowed to count direct, indirect and induced jobs based on the construction budget; an economic study will determine how many total jobs will be created. One needs only spend the project budget to ensure jobs will be created.

How big a Job Cushion do you need? Well, it depends…

Posted by Rupy Cheema on February 07, 2019

The EB-5 program requires that each EB-5 Investor create ten (10) jobs. Job cushion refers to the percentage of jobs exceeding the requirement. Having a Job cushion is important so that the job creation estimates are above the minimum required by all investors in a project.

So, what is a sufficient job cushion? Is there a magic number that is acceptable and anything lower than that is rejected? Generally speaking, a higher job cushion provides some assurance that job creation estimates will be met — but EB5 investors need to look deeper than just the job cushion numbers.

Job Cushions from 155 EB-5 offerings

Based on our review of 155 EB-5 offerings, job cushion has ranged from 0% to 900%. Seventy five percent (75%) of the projects have a job cushion of 25% or more and thirty percent (30%) of the projects have a job cushion of 100% or more. The median job cushion is 51%.

Consequences of Not Registering as an RIA

Posted by Kurt Reuss on March 17, 2016

Registered Investment Advisor

Kurt: Chris, you mentioned to me that fines for not registering as a registered investment advisor can come in varying tiers, depending on the way you're perceived to have gone about not registering or the circumstances around it.

Fines can range from a lower level when the SEC recognizes that you're doing what you thought you should be doing, but you just didn't do it properly and fines will usually escalate for egregious and repetitive wrongdoings. Any thoughts on how the SEC perceives the issue of fines?

Chris: I think they're going to look at the activities you're actually conducting. In this case, with eb 5 visa requirements being a relatively new area, it's hard to say how they're going to go. I know the state of California structures their fines on a tier system.

Based on first offenses or minor offenses, it's almost a slap on the wrist, if you will. But I've also seen massive disgorgement of profits where some investment advisors have been operating two or three years without registering and they’re continually trying to skirt the rules.

In some cases they do this through the creation of additional companies in an effort to keep their amount under management spread out among multiple entities, but the SEC determines that those entities were integrated. I think it depends on the actual conduct that determines the severity of the fine.

EB5 Projects Due Diligence: Project Financing and Use of Funds

Posted by Kurt Reuss on November 27, 2015

EB5 Project Financing 

Rupy Cheema: A primary question of due diligence is how the project is going to be funded and whether the capital stack is complete. If the project will be funded in part by developer equity, we look into how much equity is being committed to the deal. Most agents we speak to, are looking for a minimum of 30% developer equity.

That begs the question “where is that equity coming from?" and “Is it a cash contribution or is it an asset contribution?”   If the developer is contributing land, how are they arriving at the value of the land. Was there an appraisal done? Is the value assigned reasonable and thus is the developer really contributing 30% of the project cost? If the developer plans to contribute cash, at what stage will it be funded?  Is the developer providing an additional equity commitment in case the project needs more money or if the EB5 projects funding does not come in as anticipated.

Part of the project costs may be funded through a secured loan from a bank.  Having a senior lender in the deal brings both advantages and disadvantages to the NCE’s investment. The biggest disadvantage is that the NCE’s investment will likely have only junior or subordinate rights or perhaps no rights at all to the collateral and the biggest advantage is that the EB5 investors have an experienced party involved in the deal, one who is going to conduct its own due diligence. The senior lender will want to make sure that the construction budgets are reasonable and the environmental assessment is complete. They will also ensure that any conditions imposed have been satisfied prior to the disbursement of their loan.

Due Diligence Process - Investment Highlights

Posted by Kurt Reuss on November 20, 2015

EB5 Diligence highlights twenty-three (23) deal terms in each due diligence report. Unfortunately, deal terms are what some people define as a due diligence checklist. As an example, earlier today I spoke with Reid Thomas (NES Financial) who’s currently in China and he told me that in speaking with local agents, he asked what they thought about due diligence. He said that from the agent’s point of view there seems to be three (3) major areas that due diligence covers.

SEC Rule 10b-5: How the SEC defines Fraud

Posted by Kurt Reuss on October 31, 2015

John Tishler: SEC Rule 10b-5 is what I’d call the primary rule of liability we’re concerned about in EB5 offerings or EB5 projects. It applies to any offering of securities that has any jurisdictional nexus to the United States. Jurisdictional nexus simply means that some mode of interstate commerce was used: the telephone, an email, postal delivery. I think it is impossible to imagine an EB5 transaction taking place that did not somehow avail itself of the means of interstate commerce in the United States. 10b-5 is going to apply.

And what it says is that it’s unlawful for any person in connection with the offer or sale of securities to omit or misstate a material fact or to state a fact that, in the context in which it is stated, is misleading. And that’s considered to be a fraud. When people talk about securities fraud, Rule 10b-5 is what they’re referring to. 

Comparing the commonly used word “fraud” and the common sense understanding of it, the standard for securities fraud is quite a bit lower than the common sense understanding of that term 'fraud'. 

Fraud includes an intent to omit a fact or to state a fact that wasn’t complete in its context. Rule 10b-5 has what’s called a scienter requirement in relation to the omission of facts meaning there has to have been intent. 

The Issuer Exemption as it relates to EB-5

Posted by Kurt Reuss on August 11, 2015

An exemption from registration as a broker dealer under Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is available for persons associated with an issuer and involved in the sale of the issuer’s securities. Understanding the Issuer Exemption plays critical role in EB 5 Visa documentation.